Mauritania identifies suicide bomber recently shot as AQIM member

The suicide bomber who was shot on Aug. 25 at Nema, 1,200 km east of Nouakchott, was a member of the Al Qaeda branch in North Africa, the Mauritanian security department said on Monday.

The bomber was attempting to force himself through the gate of an army barracks in a 4x4 vehicle carrying explosives.

He was identified as a Mauritanian national and a member of the North African wing of Al Qaeda (AQIM) based in the northern desert of Mali.

A local private news agency ANI which quoted security sources as saying he went by the name Idriss Ould Yarba.

The agency said the terrorist initially stayed at Elmina, a populous residential area in the capital Nouakchott. He was originated from Kiffa, the provincial capital of Assaba, which is more than 600 km east of the Mauritanian capital.

According to ANI, Ould Yarba rejoined AQIM in 2005. He had initially taken part in some other attacks, especially those of "Lehjeira" against the Algerian army, and later the skirmishes with the northern Tuaregs of Mali.

Ould Yarba appeared recently on an Internet broadcast by AQIM, calling for a jihad (holy war).

Mauritania is one of the African countries facing the looming threat from AQIM, which grew out of the Salafist movement in Algeria a few years ago and has since shifted south into the vast and lawless Sahel.

Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger have joined hands this year in fighting the terrorist group, which is held responsible for a series of kidnappings of Europeans and the killing of two hostages.

Source: Xinhua