ConflictBarometer_2015

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
December 21, six NATO soldiers were killed in a suicide
blast near Bagram Air Base, the US military headquarters in
Afghanistan.
In the course of the year, the Taliban took temporary control
of different territories in several provinces. After a failed attempt
to seize Kunduz city, Kunduz province, in April, Taliban
fighters took control of the city on September 28, freeing
500 prisoners. In the following days, approx. 7,000 ANSF
troops supported by US airstrikes tried to expel the militants.
On October 3, a US airstrike hit the Médecins sans Frontières
hospital in Kunduz, killing at least 30 staff members, patients,
and assistants while wounding another 37. After 15 days of
fighting, the military regained full control of the city, ending
the first Taliban siege of a major city since 2001. A total of
289 civilians died, 559 were injured, and more than 20,000
families were temporarily displaced during the battles.
Apart from the siege of Kunduz, the Taliban also tried to
regain control of other parts of the country. For instance,
Taliban fighters seized Yamghan district, Badakshan province,
on June 6. After heavy clashes leaving over 120 militants and
five security forces dead, ANSF troops supported by local
police regained control of the area on June 21. Furthermore,
on October 1, militants seized Tala wa Barfak district, Baghlan
province, which was then recaptured by security forces two
days later. On December 20, the Taliban took control of
Sangin district, Helmand. During fights in the following two
days, fighters killed at least 90 soldiers. By the end of the
year, the group lost control of Sangin, but seized another four
districts in the province. Reportedly, 5,000 families fled the
violence.
Throughout the year, Taliban militants repeatedly attacked
civilians and civilian government facilities. For example, a
Taliban gunman killed three American contractors and one
civilian on January 29 in an attack at Kabul airport. On
March 25, at least seven civilians were killed and 36 others
were wounded in a suicide car bombing in the capital. On
April 2, a suicide bomber of the Haqqani Network killed 16
civilians and wounded approx. 40 during an anti-corruption
demonstration in the city of Khost, Khost province. Two
civilians were killed, six injured, and over 30 abducted during
a Taliban attack on a volleyball game in Zazi Aryub, Paktia
province, on May 7. Six days later, Taliban militants attacked
a hotel in Kabul, killing 14 people and wounding another
seven. On May 19, Taliban carried out a bomb attack in front
of the Afghan Ministry of Justice, leaving at least five people
dead and several dozens wounded. On June 22, Taliban
fighters attacked the parliament building in Kabul. After a
car bomb had detonated outside the building, militants with
firearms tried to enter the complex, engaging in firefights
with security forces. All six gunmen died while at least one
civilian was killed and over 30 were injured. On August 7, a
suicide bomber attacked the National Directorate of Security,
killing 15 and wounding at least 240. Three days later, a
suicide blast on Kabul International Airport left five civilians
dead and at least 16 injured. Taliban fighters attacked a
guesthouse of the Spanish Embassy on December 11, killing
at least seven people, among them two Spanish police officers.
Following the announcement of Mullah Omar's death,
internal fights among the Taliban erupted. On July 31, Taliban
sources declared Mullah Akhtar Mansoor the group's new
leader. However, different factions frequently engaged in
fighting. For instance, fighters loyal to Mullah Mansoor and
a splinter group, allegedly backed by Uzbek and IS fighters,
clashed in Arghandab district of Zabul province on November
9, leaving more than 50 militants dead.
Throughout the year, Taliban frequently engaged in fights
with militants of the so-called Islamic State, especially in the
provinces of Nangarhar and Farah [→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)].
chf, mkp, spv, ssd
ALGERIA (AQIM ET AL.)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1989
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
AQIM, Blood Signatories, MUJAO vs.
government
system/ideology, national power
The limited war over national power and the orientation of
the political system between al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM), the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa
(MUJAO), and the Blood Signatories, on one hand, and the
government, on the other, de-escalated to a violent crisis.
After former AQIM fighters had joined the IS under the name
Jund al-Khalifa in September 2014, the al-Ghuraba brigade
pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in July
[→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)]. Over the course of the year, the
conflict claimed approx. 110 lives in Algeria, mainly on the
side of the militants.
On November 20, AQIM and al-Murabitoun allegedly carried
out the hostage-taking in Bamako, Mali [→ Mali (AQIM, MUJAO
HCUA, MAA, MNLA GATIA / northern Mali)]. On December
3, AQIM claimed responsibility for the attack. In the same
statement, AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel declared that
al-Murabitoun and its leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar had joined
AQIM.
In January, the Algerian People's National Army (APNA) decided
to conduct monthly meetings and exchange information
on fighting regional armed groups [→ Morocco (AQIM)].
The axis of Boumerdès, Tizi Ouzou province, and Bouira
province in the north of the country continued to be the
main venue of confrontations between government forces
and Islamist militants.
On January 2, Islamist militants shot dead two policemen in
a restaurant in El-Adjiba in the province of Oum El Bouaghi.
In the following two weeks, the army arrested twelve suspected
AQIM members during operations carried out in the
cities of Ghardaia, Laghouat, and In Amenas. On May 12,
militants killed four community guards in their vehicle in
Merouana, Batna province. One month later, AQIM members
killed one army colonel and injured his deputy by using an
IED in the city of Batna. From January to June, security forces
killed 28 Islamist fighters during numerous search and sweep
operations in several provinces.
After the attacks in Tunisia on June 26 [→Tunisia (AQIM et al.)],
the Algerian army began to deploy 12,000 troops in order to
enhance the security situation in its northeastern provinces
bordering Tunisia. On July 17, AQIM militants ambushed a military
convoy and killed nine soldiers close to Tariq Ibn-Ziad,
Ain Defla province. Three days later, around 20 members
of AQIM's al-Ansar brigade attacked and killed three police
officers and wounded one in the same province. On August
15, militants killed one military commander and one soldier
in Colo, situated between Skikda and Jijel province. After
this incident, APNA intensified operations against Islamist
militants in Jijel province, killing seven fighters in August.
Military operations in Boumerdès, Jijel, and Tizi Ouzou left 13
militants dead by the end of the year. ala
170