Six extremists killed near Tunisian border by Algerian army

Six armed militants were killed by the Algerian defence ministry in an army raid close to the Tunisian border on 24th September, as reported by The Arab Weekly plus agencies.

The raid was carried out by the Algeria’s defence ministry as part of a related operation aimed at stifling “terrorism” in the east of the country. Armed Islamic extremist groups have been active across Algeria following the conclusion of its civil war in 2002. The defence ministry made the following statement about what happened in Tunisia: “as part of the fight against terrorism, an army detachment […] eliminated six terrorists and recovered six Kalashnikov machine guns with significant ammunition.”

Algeria’s civil war erupted in 1992 following a military coup that prevented the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from assuming power following their success in the parliamentary election and announcement of establishing an “Islamic State” in Algeria. As violence and tensions esclated over the country, the next ten years (often referred to as the “Black Decade”) saw a reported 200,000 people dead as a result of the conflict.

However, despite implementing amnesty law in 2005 in hopes of soothing political tensions following the civil war, Islamic extremist groups are claimed to have continued to engage in operations infrequently. The six militants killed on the Tunisia border were reported to have been armed with Kalashnikov machine guns and were linked to Islamic extremist groups.

Across the beginning of 2025, Algeria’s “counter-terrorism” operations are claimed to have killed at least 35 people according to the defence ministry. Despite major shifts to Algeria’s political landscape following the appointment of a new prime minister and government on September 14th, the operation close to the border of Tunisia shows that the Algerian government are still making efforts towards cracking down on these groups residing in sparse regions of the country.

Algeria’s military activity continues in the background of the country’s numerous political tensions, both internally and globally.

The Arab Weekly plus agencies, Maghrebi.org