The Maghreb (more specifically, Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco) has been the subject of an insurgency since 2002 waged by the neo-Khawarij Islamist militia, Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or, GSPC. The GSPC allied itself with the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb against the Algerian government. This alliance created a division within the GSPC and led to the creation of the Free Salafist Group (GSL) another militant group opposing the Algerian government and Western interests. The conflict is a continuation of the Algerian Civil War that ended in 2002, and has since spread to other neighboring countries.