Mali: al-Qaeda Alliance a Warning to Islamic State
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 24 March 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 6 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Mali: al-Qaeda Alliance a Warning to Islamic State, 24 March 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 6, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58d8f5484.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
An attack on a Malian military base in Boulikessi that left 11 soldiers dead has been claimed by the newly formed jihadist alliance Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, led by the Ansar Dine chief Iyad Ag Ghali. Although initial reports attributed the March 5 attack to Ansarul Islam, Ghali's group later claimed responsibility in a statement to the Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency (MaliJet, March 10; RFI, March 10).
The attack came just days after the formation of the new group, which brings together some of Mali's main jihadist players under the al-Qaeda umbrella and boosts the groups local standing relative to jihadist rival Islamic State (IS).
Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, or "Support for Islam and Muslims", is an alliance between Ghali's Ansar Dine with al-Mourabitoun, led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) Sahara division (AfricaNews, March 3). Also part of the new alliance is Amadou Koufa, the founder of the Macina Liberation Front.
Koufa appeared alongside Ghali and AQIM officials, including Yahya Abu al-Hammam, in a video on March 2 pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri and announcing the merger (Jeune Afrique, March 2). Although a long-time acquaintance of Ghali, having fought with him in Timbuktu in 2012, Koufa appeared to have fallen out with the Ansar Dine leader last year and was reportedly toying with the idea of joining IS (Maliweb, January 5).
Clearly he has since been tempted back to the al-Qaeda fold. That may have something to do with putting Ghali, a Tuareg militant who has for years battled the Malian government, in overall charge. In doing so, al-Qaeda has brought its factions together under a local leader, highlighting an operational difference with IS, which frequently favors placing foreigners in leadership roles.
As well as their personal ties, Ghali's leadership was likely a draw for Koufa, whose own group is a Fulani jihadist movement that is as concerned with defending Fulani herding communities as it is with the spread of sharia.
The new alliance does little to simplify the fractured landscape of non-state actors in Mali (see Terrorism Monitor, January 27). However, it does help consolidate al-Qaeda's influence in the region. Ghali, who founded the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad in the 1980s, has a certain political legitimacy as well as appeal to Tuareg groups outside Mali.
There was already coordination between the groups, but the alliance is also something of a warning from al-Qaeda to IS that the group intends to keep the Sahel firmly within its zone of influence.
