From Iraq to Algeria, Al-Qaeda's Long Reach

ALGIERS -- Al-Qaeda has rapidly extended its influence across North Africa by aiding and organizing local groups that are demonstrating a renewed ability to launch terrorist attacks in the region, such as the triple suicide bombings that killed 33 people here last month, according to counterterrorism officials and analysts.

The bombers who struck the Government Palace and a police station in Algiers, the capital, are believed to have been local residents. But Algerian authorities are examining evidence that the bombers were siphoned from recruiting pipelines that have sent hundreds of North African fighters to Iraq and perhaps were trained by veterans of the Iraqi insurgency, U.S. and European intelligence officials said.

Group in Algeria Turned To Al-Qaeda for Assistance Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Algeria was originally called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a name derived from a fundamentalist branch of Islam. Founded in 1998, six years after the outbreak of a civil war that has killed an estimated 200,000 Algerians, the group's stated mission was to... In Depth A Widening Crisis Video journalist Travis Fox documents the growing humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad, where violence is spilling over from neighboring Darfur, Sudan. Turmoil in Somalia Ethiopian-backed troops push Islamic fighters from the capital, renewing hopes that a viable secular government can be established. Crisis in Darfur Militia allegedly backed by the government have killed and displaced millions, sending the conflict into neighboring Chad. AIDS in Africa The Washington Post's Craig Timberg reports on the impact of AIDS in Africa and efforts to combat the devastating disease. � MORE AFRICA COVERAGE