Good morning KTC:
From the same article:
The attackers were operating under the orders of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who previously led al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, according to Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia. AQIM is among the groups targeted by the French armed forces in Mali and is holding four Frenchmen kidnapped in 2010 from a mine operated by nuclear company Areva SA (AREVA) in neighboring Niger.
In general, I wonder if "al-Qaeda" is used as a noun for 'enemy?'

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