the armed islamic group (gia, from french "groupe islamique armé"; arabic الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة‎, "al-jama'ah al-islamiyah al-musallaha") was an islamist terrorist organization based in algeria. it wanted to overthrow the algerian government and replace it with an islamic state. the gia adopted violent tactics in 1992 after the military government did not recognise the victory of the islamic salvation front in the first round of elections held in december 1991. the islamic salvation front was the largest islamic opposition party at the time.