Bubonic Plague kills 40 Al Qaeda fighters

In one of the most ironic twists to date for the War on Terror, around 40 hardened Al Qaeda fighters have succumbed to the Black Death.

The Islamist fanatics were all members of Al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb, which is the terror network's largest regional wing outside of the Middle East.

According to The Sun, they contracted the illness at a forest training camp in Algeria - and terror chiefs now fear it could spread to other cells.

The Black Death is a highly infectious disease that swept across the world in the Middle Ages, reducing Europe's population by as much as 60 per cent.

Around 2,500 cases of the plague still occur globally every year, but with proper medical care it rarely results in fatalities. Symptoms of the agonising disease include boils in the groin, neck and armpits.

The Al Qaeda epidemic broke out in Tizi Ouzou province, east of Algiers, and was only discovered when security forces found a cadaver by a roadside.

Terror boss Abdelmalek Droudka had evacuated his 1,000-strong camp in response, but because the infection can linger undetected in the body for days The Sun believes Al Qaeda chiefs are expecting further outbreaks.

A security source told the newspaper: "This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease.

"It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying Al Qaeda."

No-one has suggested the group deliberately isolated the disease in preparation for an attack, but experts have previously warned that the Bubonic Plague is a viable weapon in biological warfare.

In 2004, the Ministry of Defence said it had developed a vaccine for the disease. At the time lead researcher Rick Titball told the BBC the Black Death is "one of the bio-terror agents about which we are most concerned".

Al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb has stepped up operations in North Africa since it changed its name from the Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC) two years ago.

Whereas the GSPC focused on domestic issues, the new Al Qaeda offshoot has taken on an international agenda. In 2007 it bombed the UN's Algiers HQ, killing 41 people including 17 UN staffers.

Comments

[Lynne (weirdvis)]

It's a horrible way to go for sure and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, not even them, but I can't help thinking this is Karma in action.

[anon]

According to The Sun...I'm not convinced.

[Lynne (weirdvis)]

According to the BBC too. Nothing on their website though. All searches lead back to the Sun website. I've kept my TV turned off because of the wall-to-wall Obamafest (The guy's black. So what? I couldn't care less if he was pink with polka dots so long as he's up to the job.). Anyone have a corroborated account of the plague story?

[anon]

And why have the adverts on this site turned into softcore gay porn?

[Martin (riverScrap.com)]

I got sick of all those annoying text ads so I switched to images only. Apparently they're equally as annoying :(

PS I know who you are anon! Get back to work!

[Lynne (weirdvis)]

The Daily Mail can't be taking it seriously. They haven't linked the story to the continuing fall in house prices...

[Lynne (weirdvis)]

Grrrr! The story still remains uncorroborated.

[Martin (riverScrap.com)]

The Washington Times is now quoting a US intelligence official as saying that an AQLIM base was indeed evacuated, with terror leaders issuing an internal communique about "leakage of a biological or chemical substance". The official rejects The Sun's assertion that it was the Bubonic Plague, but he appears to play up my suggestion that this was a bungled terror attack:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/19/al-qaeda-bungles-arms-experiment/

I'm surprised this hasn't received more widespread coverage. AQLIM is arguably the most active wing of Al Qaeda, and its North African bases are right on Europe's doorstep.

[Lynne (weirdvis)]

Thanks, Martin. :D

[kebelle]

It reminds me of Albert Camus's "The Plague"...

[Martin (riverScrap.com)]

Final update on this:

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2009/01/plague_allegedly_killed_al_qae.php

When the CounterTerrorism Blog gets involved you know it's a big deal. CTB is claiming the Algerian govt imposed a media blackout, which is why it was left up to The Sun & The Washington Times to break the story.

[greeneyetech]

Hi - I was going to http://greeneyetech.com/blog blog about this but saw it right after I saw a show about deliberate mis-information warfare.

I was not sure if the sources were all believable.

It seems that they are now. This is your take as well?

thanks
greeneyetech

[Martin (riverScrap.com)]

Hi George - I don't there was ever any suggestion of this being deliberate mis-information by Western / Algerian authorities. The report's validity had been under question because it was broken by a shameless hussy of a rag known as The Sun. But it has since been verified by several more reputable sources, notably including the CounterTerrorism Blog.

Go ahead and cover it. Nice blog btw :)

[greeneyetech]

Thank you and same to you; your blog is also quite funny.

[Alex]

"terror chiefs now fear it could spread to other cells."

That sentence in itself is hilarious. "Terror chiefs".

Damn shame you couldn't find a quote from a "terror spokesman"

"It's awful, but what can you do? These things, they go around at this time of year. One guy, he says 'Sheik, I gotta boil the size of a tennis ball on my neck' and all I can say is 'Well, tomorrow you're blowing yourself up, inshallah, so I wouldn't worry about it'"

[unfortunate names]

that's a good name for a band "the terror chiefs"