It was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and Islamic rebel groups. The conflict broke out due to a disagreement during party elections; with the dominant National Liberation Front party cancelling the elections after initial result had shown that their opponents, the Islamic Salvation Front Party (FIS) would win. The fear of an Islamic style dictator regime under the Islamic Salvation Front party prompted the country's military to take control of the government and the Islamic Salvation Front party being banned. A guerilla war broke out, with the Islamist breaking themselves up into smaller armed groups, launching attacks on the government and their supporters.
The war led to the emergence of armed Islamic groups, GIA and GSPC. Both parties had claimed itself to be a supporter of Islam terror group Al-Qaeda. Following the September 11 attacks, the US had carried out anti-terrorism measures, and the claimed alliance of GSPC with Al-Qaeda kept the US focused in developments in Algeria, and also forged a better relationship with the Algerian government under Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
It was evident that there was an initial clash in ideology, as the fear of an Islamic dictator-styled government prompted the elections to be closed down by force and the FIS banned. US intervention was influenced by their changing foreign policy to fight terrorism, but the volatile politics in Algeria (African Civilization) had kept Algeria in a state of emergency till today.