The Sahel countries of Mali, Mauretania and Niger became the new center of gravity for AQIM as Algerian security forces degraded the group in its traditional heartland.

CNN: Al Qaeda reported to suffer double blow in Sahara

El Obeidi said that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb treated the whole region as one theater and was oblivious to the desert borders that divided the countries of the Sahel.

CNN: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps

The GGW was conceived by the 11 countries located along the southern border of the Sahara with the goal of containing the desertification of the Sahel zone, which is the transition between the Sahara in the north and the African savannas in the south, and includes parts of the countries of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

FORBES: Great Green Wall Plans to Stop Sahara