Al Jazeera: Algeria's Opposition Flares Up Amid Fracking Plans

When Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika cast his ballot from his wheelchair for a fourth consecutive term in office in April 2014, he probably did not expect that an obscure town in the country's Saharan south would rise up in protest against his energy policy.

Since January 1, the residents of Ain Salah, located about 1,200km south of the capital, Algiers, have been protesting against drilling for shale gas at a nearby site, citing environmental concerns. At one point, thousands of people were occupying Ain Salah's Soumoud (Arabic for steadfastness) Square as part of the grassroots movement, which bills itself as being "eco-friendly" and "peaceful". The anti-shale gas battle then spread across other parts of Algeria's Saharan region.

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