New intelligence on al-Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa indicates that the militant group is seeking to carry out attacks on other Western targets in the region after its deadly assault on a natural gas complex in Algeria, senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday.
The push to mount follow-on strikes is seen as evidence that al-Qaeda was emboldened by the Jan. 16 raid and subsequent battle with Algerian security services that killed dozens of hostages. A senior U.S. intelligence official said that new streams of information have surfaced in the weeks since the assault and that “what we have seen is intelligence suggesting a desire to carry out more attacks.” (Washington Post, Posted 2 Feb 13)
