The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) Claims Responsibility for the Attack on Brown & Root Condor

On December 11, 2006, Islamist websites posted a communiqué by the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, in which the latter claimed responsibility for the December 10, 2006 attack on a bus in Bouchaoui, Algeria. The bus was transporting employees of Brown & Root Condor, a company linked to the U.S. construction giant Halliburton.

In its communiqué, the group described its attack as a "humble gift" to those Muslims "who are [currently] experiencing the new Crusader campaign targeting Islam and its holy sites," and declared: "Your brothers, the descendants of Tariq Ibn Ziyad [the Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the 711 C.E. conquest of Spain], will not rest until the worshippers of the cross and their collaborators are defeated." The message urged other Muslims in Algeria to stay away from the economic interests of the unbelievers, in order to avoid being harmed when those interests are targeted by the mujahideen.

It is noteworthy that Ayman Al-Zawahiri, in his last video interview which was released on August 4, 2006, claimed that the GSPC had joined Al-Qaeda. [1]

Below is an image from the frontpage of the Brown and Root Condor website.

The Islamic State in Iraq Congratulates the Military Victory of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Dinsor, Somalia

On December 9, 2006, various Islamist websites posted a communiqué by the Islamic State in Iraq, discussing the recent military achievements of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia (the union of Somali Islamists). In the announcement, the Islamic State in Iraq praised the Islamic Courts for their victory in their struggle to repel the "massive attack launched against them in Dinsor by the Somali government supported by Ethiopian forces" and appealed to Allah to "break the spine of the apostates… and [allow the mujahideen to] establish an Islamic state on Somali land…"

Shown below is a banner which appears to be associated with the ICU.