The killing of a senior Algerian militant by special forces soon after he slipped into Tunisia has raised concern that Al Qaeda is trying to regroup in the North African state as rival Islamic State has suffered major setbacks, security sources say. That has prompted AQIM to try to lure new talent from among IS veterans, two Tunisian security sources told Reuters. Kobi was not the only senior militant sent to reorganise al Qaeda in Tunisia. Their command structure is dominated by Algerians while a rival group loosely associated with Islamic State based in the same region is run by Tunisians, Tunisian security sources say. Kobi, among others before, had been sent to bring the al Qaeda spinoff groupings back together, they said.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 07, 2018 14:15 UTC