Russia high court blacklists north Africa al Qaeda group News
Russia high court blacklists north Africa al Qaeda group

[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court [official site, in Russian] classified northern Africa group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) [CFR backgrounder] as a terrorist organization in a ruling [press release, in Russian] Thursday, prohibiting the organization from conducting activities in Russia. The court ruled after the Russian Prosecutor General [official website] asked the court to ban the organization and put it on a national blacklist of terrorist groups [RFE/RL backgrounder]. RIA Novosti has more.

AQIM, previously called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), is located in Algeria and has claimed responsibility [AP report] for bomb attacks that killed six people in Algeria last year as well as for multiple suicide bombings [Deutsche Welle report] this year.

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