The GSPC was founded in 1996 by dissidents within the Armed Islamic Group (GIA); however, it separated from the latter group in 1998. Former GIA regional commander Hassan Hattab founded the new organization after a disagreement about the targeting of civilians in their campaign. Hattab wanted to establish a group that would shy away from what he and a number of other members saw as an unpalatable practice. According to some sources, over 100,000 men, women and children were killed by the GIA between 1992 and 2000. This prompted a huge loss of public sympathy for the group, allowing the nascent GSPC to quickly gain popular support and attract new members, many of whom preferred to exclusively focus on targeting the government and security forces. Despite this rhetoric, high profile civilian targets were on the agenda in 2001, when the GSPC plotted to attack the Paris-Dakar Rally, an off-road race traveling through various countries in the Maghreb. Allegedly, it was the GSPC that abducted a group of 32 European tourists in 2003. Moreover, the group is suspected of being involved in a number of other attacks against Algerian civilians or their property, although the allegations were never confirmed because the GSPC did not claim responsibility for the attacks.

Because of its relative restraint with regard to targeting civilians, the GSPC received more support from al-Qaida – who, at the time, saw the GIA’s unremitting violence towards civilians as counter productive – and soon proved itself a formidable competitor to the GIA. Before long, the GSPC was able to take-over the GIA’s external networks in Africa and Europe.

Nabil Sahraoui assumed the leadership of GSPC in mid-2003 after Hattab disappeared, leaving many to think that he had been killed. Sahraoui’s tenure as GSPC leader ended in June 2004 when he was killed by Algerian security forces. He was replaced by Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, who continues to lead the organization. However, a deep split within the GSPC diminished al-Wadoud’s control, with a part of the organization breaking off to form the Free Salafist Group in February 2004.