This Algerian Islamic State affiliate kidnapped and beheaded French citizen Hervé Gourdel in 2014. Through October 2023 the opening said the group "is classified as a terror group by the UK, as well as by the US" under the name Jund al-Khilafah, and that "Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan designated the group as terrorist." Today the opening still calls it a "militant Islamist group," but the multi-country terrorist designations are gone; terror appears 0 times in the opening today and survives 12 times in the body. A reader today learns the group is Islamic State's Algerian branch, and not that the United Kingdom, the United States, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan all formally designated it a terrorist organization.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “terror” appeared 4 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 12.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Islamic State – Algeria Province ( IS-AP ; , ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah – Wilayah al-Jazā’ir ) is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State (IS), active in Algeria .1 The group was formerly known as Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair ( , meaning Soldiers of the Caliphate in the land of Algeria or Caliphate Soldiers of Algeria ). After kidnapping a 55-year-old French mountaineering guide, Hervé Gourdel, the group stated in a video on 22 September 2014, that the kidnapping was a fulfilling of an order of IS spokesman al-'Adnani to attack citizens of countries fighting with the U.S. against IS. On 24 September 2014, Wilayah al-Jazair claimed to have beheaded Hervé Gourdel. It is classified as a terror group by the UK, as well as by the US under the name Jund al-Khilafah (JAK-A). Also Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan designated the group as terrorist.2 The New York Times . 23 December 2014 . According to several sources, it included fewer than 30 fighters and never had enough time to structure itself as a viable force on the field "Algeria's al-Qaeda defectors join IS group" . Al Jazeera English . 14 September 2014 . Washington Institute for Near East Policy . SITE Intelligence Group . 24 September 2014 . "IS-linked terror group Jund al-Khilafah behead French hostage Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday" . News Corp Australia . 25 September 2014 . "The list of prohibited foreign organizations in Kazakhstan | Electronic government of the Republic of Kazakhstan" . "List of terrorist and extremist organizations banned in Kyrgyzstan" . 5 April 2017.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1168800839.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Jund al-Khalifah fi Ard al-Jazayer ( , meaning Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria or Caliphate Soldiers of Algeria ) is an Algerian militant group. After kidnapping a 55-year-old French mountaineering guide, Hervé Gourdel , Jund stated in a video on 22 September 2014 that the kidnapping was a fulfilling of an order of ISIL spokesman al-'Adnani to attack citizens of countries fighting with the U.S. against ISIL. On 24 September 2014, Jund al-Khilafah claimed to have beheaded Hervé Gourdel. Al Jazeera English . 14 September 2014 . Washington Institute for Near East Policy . "Al-Qaeda map: Isis, Boko Haram and other affiliates' strongholds across Africa and Asia" . 12 June 2014 . SITE Intelligence Group . 24 September 2014 . "IS-linked terror group Jund al-Khilafah behead French hostage Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667906887.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Algeria Province ( ISIL-AP ; , ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām – Wilayah al-Jazā’er ) is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), active in Algeria .The group was formerly known as Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair ( , meaning Soldiers of the Caliphate in the lands Algeria or Caliphate Soldiers of Algeria ). After kidnapping a 55-year-old French mountaineering guide, Hervé Gourdel, the group stated in a video on 22 September 2014, that the kidnapping was a fulfilling of an order of ISIL spokesman al-'Adnani to attack citizens of countries fighting with the U.S. against ISIL. On 24 September 2014, Wilayah al-Jazair claimed to have beheaded Hervé Gourdel.It is listed as a terror group by the UK, as well as by the US under the name Jund al-Khilafah (JAK-A). Al Jazeera English . 14 September 2014 . Washington Institute for Near East Policy . The New York Times . 23 December 2014 . SITE Intelligence Group . 24 September 2014 . "IS-linked terror group Jund al-Khilafah behead French hostage Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday" . News Corp Australia . 25 September 2014 .[1] "Individuals and Entities Designated by the State Department Under E.O. 13224" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959666744.
The opening as it stood in 2025 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Algerian militant group active since 2014 The Islamic State – Algeria Province (IS–AP ; Arabic : الدولة الإسلامية – ولاية الجزائر , r omanized : ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah – Wilayah al-Jazā’ir ) was a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State (IS), active in Algeria . The group was formerly known as Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair ( Arabic : جند الخلافة في أرض الجزائر , lit. ' Soldiers of the Caliphate in the land of Algeria or Caliphate Soldiers of Algeria). Originally a faction of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the group split from AQIM and pledged alliance to IS in September 2014.The group received notoriety later in the same month for the kidnapping and beheading of French citizen Hervé Gourdel.After a subsequent campaign by Algerian authorities killed many of its members and leaders, the group significantly declined in activity and effectively dissolved after May 2015. The New York Times . 23 December 2014 . According to several sources, it included fewer than 30 fighters and never had enough time to structure itself as a viable force on the field "Algeria's al-Qaeda defectors join IS group" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297706791. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“terror” appeared 4 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 12. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
terror
0
1
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militant
1
1
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3
islamist
0
1
1
1
hostage
0
0
1
1
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
Where the word went
It left the opening. It did not leave the article. Wikipedia moved it down the page, where a reader arriving from a search result will not reach it.
“terror” now appears 2× under Designation as a terrorist organization, 83% of the way down the article
Sections that no longer exist
Present on 6 October 2023, absent today. A heading can vanish because the section was deleted or because it was renamed or merged, and we have not separated those here, so treat this as a list of what to check rather than a verdict.
As Jund al-Khilafah555 characters
As Wilayah al-Jazair725 characters
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
