ALGIERS, Algeria — In coordination with Western security agencies, Tunisia and Algeria are leading operations to trace jihadists from Algeria, Tunisia and Libya as they move to declare an Islamic State (IS) emirate in North Africa.

Algerian security sources told Al-Monitor that the operations began to take shape as in mid-August, dozens of jihadists who had defected from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were observed in southeastern Algeria, near the southern border of Tunisia and not far from the northwest of Libya.

When Abu Abdullah Osman al-Assimi, AQIM's judge for central Algeria, pledged allegiance to IS, fears grew that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s state will soon establish an emirate in the Maghreb.

Assimi’s announcement came in an audio message issued by AQIM-affiliated Al-Andalus Media Productions and included criticism of al-Qaeda, which is led by Ayman al-Zawahri, for failing to pledge support for Baghdadi’s state. It also included a blessing of the announcement of the caliphate and the allegiance of a number of Islamist fighters to it. The news has established a new division within the ranks of AQIM, created seven years ago and blessed by Zawahri, who recognized it as part of al-Qaeda's core in Afghanistan.