Algerian justice announced Tuesday, March 30 the arrest of five people suspected of planning actions “Terrorists” in Tizi-Ouzou and Béjaïa, in Kabylia, during the weekly demonstrations of Hirak, the anti-regime protest movement.
These five people were planning to organize “Terrorist operations with a vehicle bomb in the heart of Hirak in the towns of Tizi Ouzou and Béjaïa”, according to a press release from the Azazga prosecutor’s office (north-east), cited by the official APS agency.
They were arrested in the town of Tizi-Ouzou following the “Treatment of a case of possession of weapons of war and explosives with a view to their use in terrorist acts, the facts of which date back to mid-March current”, the statement said. Aged 36 to 51, the five suspects – simply designated by their initials – are from the wilayas (prefectures) of Bouira and Tizi-Ouzou.
Weapons of war – including a shotgun, a Kalashnikov-type submachine gun and a pistol – ammunition and various electronic devices as well as two vehicles were seized by the security services.
Kamikaze arrested, attack foiled
The five suspects appeared on Tuesday before an investigating judge of the Azazga court who ordered the imprisonment of one of them. The other four were released under judicial supervision.
This is not the first time that the authorities have reported plans for attacks targeting Hirak protests. At the end of January 2020, the defense ministry announced the arrest near Algiers of a suicide bomber who wanted to blow himself up with an explosive belt during a rally of the pro-democracy movement in the center of the capital.
Born in February 2019 from the massive rejection of a fifth term of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, helpless and reclusive, the Hirak calls for a radical change of “System” policy in place since the country’s independence in 1962.
In early March, a bomb attack was foiled in Algiers after the arrest of three members of a “Terrorist group” in Tipaza, west of the capital, according to the army. The term “Terrorist” is used by the authorities to designate armed Islamists who have remained active since the end of the civil war (1992-2002).
Despite the implementation in 2005 of a charter for peace and reconciliation, supposed to turn the page of “Black decade” In the 1990s (some 200,000 dead), armed groups remained active, particularly in the east of the country, where they generally attacked the security forces.