The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is a radical Islamist group based in Algeria. The GIA's primary objective is to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state. The group employs a variety of methods and tactics in its attacks, including bombings, shootings, hijackings and kidnappings. In August 1995, a gas canister bomb containing nails and bolts was planted in a trash can and detonated near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The GIA is known to have targeted intellectuals, journalists, and foreigners, both within and outside Algeria. The group has links with terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East and Central/Southern Asia, including Al Qaida. The GIA has been dormant since approximately 2005.