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Glite Dictionary
Salafist Group

Salafist Group

9.9
A former Algerian Islamist militant group that carried out terrorist attacks to try to overthrow the government
  • proper noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : Grupo Salafista
  • After rebranding, the Salafist Group became part of a broader global jihadist movement.

Examples

  • The Salafist Group was involved in numerous attacks during the 1990s.

  • Several European governments have increased surveillance of organizations linked to the Salafist Group.

  • The Salafist Group was responsible for numerous attacks in northern Algeria in the early 2000s.

  • Many believe the Salafist Group had ties to al-Qaeda.

  • In the early 2000s, the Salafist Group sought to destabilize Algeria through a wave of violence and terrorism.

  • The Algerian government increased security measures to combat the threats posed by the Salafist Group.

  • Members of the Salafist Group were often linked to al-Qaeda and other extremist organizations in North Africa.

Synonyms

GSPC
vsSalafist Group
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A group in Algeria that used violence to try to change the government and backed al-Qaeda

is the earlier name for that same organization
Salafist Group for Call and Combat
vsSalafist Group
  • NSFW
9.9

An Algerian extremist Islamist group that split from another militant group and tried to overthrow the government while supporting al-Qaeda

is the former name focusing on the group's identity and al-Qaeda ties

Surface Forms

Salafist Group main

Morphology

Salafist + group

The compound is compositionally predictable: 'Salafist' (relating to Salafism) + 'group' (a set of people) lets a learner infer it refers to a group of Salafists. However, the entry refers to a specific Algerian militant organization with historical and terrorist connotations that cannot be derived from the constituents alone and requires extra world knowledge.

Etymology

Salafist Group comes from Salafist + Group: the word 'Salaf' means the 'earliest Muslims', so Salafist describes people who want to follow those early ways. The name was used by an Algerian organization that used violence to try to change the government, so today the phrase usually refers to that specific armed group.