France reports major security operation in central Mali
French forces reportedly killed dozens of jihadists after a three-week long operation in central Mali.
French forces reportedly killed dozens of jihadists after a three-week long operation in central Mali.
The Islamic State issued several claims of responsibility for attacks by the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Human Rights Watch has documented dozens of civilians who have been murdered by both jihadists and government forces in Burkina Faso. This helps exacerbate the conditions that allow jihadists to operate in the region.
While no group has yet to officially claim the assault, al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims is widely suspected.
Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims directly refutes France’s claiming of killing one of its co-founders and senior leaders, Amadou Kouffa.
In a message released on Feb. 5, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri harshly criticizes the jihadists in Syria. He says they are engaged in a misguided “competition” for “imagined authority” over territory that is under the oversight “of secular Turkish checkpoints.”
Several attacks in both Mali and Burkina Faso were claimed by al Qaeda’s jihadist conglomerate JNIM.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), al Qaeda’s senior leaders are strengthening the al Qaeda “network’s global command structure.” Meanwhile, the Islamic State “still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.” Both groups maintain worldwide networks or affiliates, branches, and supporters.
In a new video, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM, or the “Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims”) says it has decided “to discontinue the release and production of videos concerning the captives held by the group for undisclosed reasons.”
AQIM leader Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud has confirmed that Almansour Ag Kassam (Almansour Ag Alkassoum), an important jihadist who worked with several al Qaeda groups, was killed by France in November.
In a new audio message, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s emir, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, tries to capitalize on popular discontent in France. He fuses populist economic arguments with his jihadist ideology to critique France’s intervention in Africa.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released a statement claiming that the victims of an American airstrike on Nov. 29 “were a group of Tuareg youth” and not members of the organization. US Africa Command previously said that 11 AQIM “terrorists” were killed and three vehicles destroyed in the “precision airstrike near Al Uwaynat, Libya.”
The Libyan National Army (LNA) claims to have captured Hisham al-Ashmawy, a former Egyptian officer who defected to the jihadists’ cause. Ashmawy has been accused of orchestrating jihadist operations in both Egypt and Libya. The Egyptian government alleges that he has been involved in a series of terrorist attacks targeting officials.
AL Qaeda’s operatives are fighting in more countries around the world today than was the case on 9/11. And its leaders still want to target the United States and its interest and allies. The war they started is far from over.
The State Department announced today that it has designated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al Qaeda’s branch in Mali and West Africa, as a terrorist organization. JNIM and its leader, Iyad Ghali, are openly loyal to al Qaeda and the Taliban’s emir.
Sultan Ould Bady, a veteran jihadist within various al Qaeda groups in Mali and later the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, turned himself in to the Algerian military yesterday.
Rising communal violence in both northern and central Mali further weakens the already fragile state, which in turn, further helps jihadists exploit these problems for their own gain.
Only days after a suicide assault on an African military base in central Mali, another suicide car bombing hit French Barkhane troops in the northern city of Gao.
While no group has claimed responsibility yet, it was most likely conducted by al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims.
This is the second video released by ISGS’ Katibat Salahadin in the span of a week, marking a significant uptick in social media activity for the jihadist group.
Burkina Faso’s wanted list gives more information into the inner-workings and operations of Ansaroul Islam, a relatively under-researched and little understood al Qaeda-linked jihadist group.
Months after killing four US Special Forces soldiers, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has been designated as a terrorist group by the US government. Its leader, Abu Walid al Sahrawi, was also designated today.
Intercommunal eye for an eye killings have been increasing in the past week with dozens of Tuaregs and Fulani being killed on both sides of the Mali-Niger border. The massacres come in the backdrop of ongoing counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Today’s claims of responsibility are the first for the group in Burkina Faso since 2016.
Al Qaeda released a new message from Ayman al Zawahiri today. His talk is titled, “France Has Returned Oh Descendants of the Lions.” Zawahiri calls on Muslims in the Maghreb to oppose foreign forces.
According to a Mauritanian website that often publishes claims from jihadists, al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed yesterday’s terrorist attacks in the Burkinabe capital. JNIM later officially claimed the attacks via its Telegram channel.
The operations, which occurred alongside French special forces, were to reportedly kill or capture Abu Walid al Sahrawi, the leader of the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
The deadly IED blast comes just a week after major French raids on JNIM positions and leaders near the borders with Algeria.
The State Department has designated Ansaroul Islam, a Burkinabe jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda’s network in Mali, as a terrorist organization. FDD’s Long War Journal has tracked the rise of the group since its founding in late 2016.
French forces conducted near simultaneous raids and airstrikes on three jihadist targets belonging to al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).