ALGIERS, Algeria — Khaled Chaib, also known as Lokman Abu Sakhr, is an Algerian militant fighting Tunisian soldiers in Mount Chambi, located in the Constantine province of eastern Algeria. Algerian security sources who are following the fight against terrorism on the Algerian-Tunisian border told Al-Monitor that armed groups in the two countries seek to coordinate their operations in the area of ​​Mount Chambi. This coordination aims to undermine the efforts of both countries to blockade them before they can receive new fighters and military equipment from Libya.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the subject, said that fighters from various organizations, including Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, are moving across the Tunisian-Libyan border areas to bring arms in and recruit young men to fight in Mount Chambi.

Algerian Khaled Chaib is one of the most prominent fighters in the armed groups in the region. On Aug. 2, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior stated that Chaib was leading the coordination between the armed groups north of Tunis. The ministry also announced it had dismantled five terrorist groups in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital earlier this month, adding that it had arrested Hisham Brabeh, a member of the terror groups who was coordinating with Chaib, while he was attempting to flee toward Libya. According to the ministry, the five groups were planning to carry out a number of assassinations targeting politicians, security officials and journalists.

Chaib joined the ranks of the armed groups in the mid-1990s and became the leader of one such group in the highlands of the border state of Tebessa, which stretches from the mountains of Bodjan in Khenchela to El-Ma El-Biod and Um Leqmaqem near Bir el-Ater in southern Tebessa. He then joined ِAQIM when it was established in 2007.