Islamic State – Algeria Province

Under Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb IS–AP was previously a faction of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Al Qaeda affiliate in North and West Africa. AQIM grew out of Algerian Islamist groups that had fought in the 1990s Civil War. After kidnapping 55-year-old French mountaineering guide Hervé Gourdel, Jund al-Khilafah stated in a video released on 22 September 2014 that the kidnapping was a fulfilling of an order of IS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani to attack citizens of countries fighting with the U.S. against IS. On 24 September 2014, Jund al-Khilafah claimed to have beheaded Hervé Gourdel. On 13 November 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced that the group had changed its name to "Wilayah al-Jazair" in accordance to the structure of the rest of groups aligned with IS. In December 2014, Algerian special forces killed Abdelmalek Gouri, dealing a significant blow to the group while it was still in its infancy. In May 2015, over 20 members of IS–AP, including several commanders and group leader Abdullah Othman al-Asimi, were killed in a military raid. The group was devastated by the raids, and turned its focus to propaganda while attempting to rebuild. Although it advertised the pledges of allegiance of several AQIM splinter factions during 2015, none of the groups involved are believed to be large, and the group did not claim responsibility for any major attacks in the years following the kidnapping and killing of Gourdel. ==Timeline==

• April 2014: Jund al-Khilafah ambushes Algerian army convoy in Iboudrarene, killing 11 Algerian soldiers and wounding 5. • 14 September 2014: Jund al-Khilafah leader Khaled Abu-Suleiman announces the group's split from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and pledges allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. • 21 September 2014: Hervé Gourdel is abducted by Jund al-Khilafah in the Djurdjura National Park in Algeria. • 22 September 2014: Jund al-Khilafah releases a video showing Hervé Gourdel being held captive. The group stated that the kidnapping was in response to France conducting Airstrikes against "Islamic State" and threatened to behead him if France continued to carry out airstrikes against IS. • 24 September 2014: Jund al-Khilafah releases a video purporting to show the beheading of Hervé Gourdel. The militants shown stated that the beheading was in response to the order of IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, in which he called on followers to attack citizens of member nations of the anti-IS coalition. • October 2014: One of the Jund al-Khilafah militants responsible for the beheading of Hervé Gourdel was killed in an Algerian military operation in October. • 11 December 2014: The Algerian justice ministry states that Algerian soldiers had killed two Jund al-Khilafah (now IS–AP) members believed to have been involved in the murder of Hervé Gourdel. • 20 May 2015: Algerian security forces ambushed an IS–AP meeting east of Algiers, killing at least 21 fighters and capturing two others. Among those killed included IS–AP leader Abdullah Othman al-Asimi. • 18 February 2021: Abdelmalek Hamzaoui, a suspect in the beheading of Hervé Goudel appeared in court with others being tried in absentia. Hamzaoui was sentenced to death for the murder of Hervé Gourdel. == Designation as a terrorist organization ==

IS–AP was classified as a terror group by the UK, as well as by the US under the name Jund al-Khilafah (JAK-A). Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have also designated IS–AP as a terrorist group. ==References==