The worst of the fighting was waged by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which denounced democracy and embraced jihad as the only means to power.

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There has been no terror attack on mainland France since 1995, when a series of bombings was claimed by a group calling itself the Armed Islamic Group general command.

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The alleged cell, he said, was "probably the most dangerous" France had seen since the Algerian-based GIA (Armed Islamic Group), which carried out a series of attacks in 1995-96.

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