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Al-Qaeda-Inspired Jihadi Groups Gaining Strength in Gaza
(AP-Washington Post) Abu Bakir al-Ansari, a leader of one of Gaza's secretive jihadi groups, told AP in an interview that the al-Qaeda-inspired movement now has several thousand armed fighters in Gaza, posing a formidable threat to both Israel and the area's Hamas rulers. Gaza's Salafis support al-Qaeda's campaign of global jihad, but are not believed to have direct links with the global terror network. An Israeli expert on al-Qaeda, Aviv Oreg, estimated there were up to 1,000 Salafi fighters. Abu Bakir confirmed that his group was behind the death of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian pro-Palestinian activist killed in Gaza in April 2011. He also claimed that 100 Gazans have gone to Syria to battle the Assad regime, and 10 have been killed so far.