such a coincidence

[Eugen Leitl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/algeria/4287469/Black-Death-kills-al-Qaeda-operatives-in-Algeria.html

Black Death 'kills al-Qaeda operatives in Algeria'

The Black Death has reportedly killed at least 40 al-Qaeda operatives in
North Africa.

Last Updated: 3:33PM GMT 19 Jan 2009

The disease, which struck Europe in the Middle Ages killing more than 25
million people, has swept through a training camp for insurgents in Algeria.

The arrival of the plague was discovered when security forces found the body
of a dead terrorist by a roadside, the Sun reports.

The victim belonged to the large al-Qaeda network AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land
of the Islamic Maghreb).

A security source told the paper: "This is the deadliest weapon yet in the
war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical
supplies needed to treat the disease.

"It spreads It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really
worrying al-Qaeda."

Black Death comes in various forms and was one of the deadliest pandemics in
human history when it struck in the 1340s killing 75 million people across
North Africa, Asia and Europe.

Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include
painful boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn
bacteria spread like flu. Without medication it can be deadly.

The new epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province,
150km east of the capital Algiers, the Sun reports.

The group, led by wanted terror figure Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to
turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.

The group now fears the highly-infectious disease could have spread to other
al-Qaeda training camps or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the paper said.

A source said: "The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender
to escape a horrible death."

AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41.