The province suffered massacres (the largest being the Sid El-Antri massacre in 1997), killings, and bombings during the Algerian Civil War, though less so than areas closer to Algiers. The Africa Institute reported in a May 2004 monograph that Tiaret's more "arid and mountainous landscape has facilitated terrorist activities". The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base reports that Tiaret "is a frequent site of attacks by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)" (now known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). The GSPC is "believed to have close ties to Osama bin Laden" ("Paris AFX News Agency", Jul 13, 2005) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ("Asharq Alaswat" Jul 3 2005), and is reported to be active in Italy ("Deutsche Welle", Jul 15 2005).