Northern Mali clans swear allegiance to JNIM
Several communities in Mali’s northern Menaka Region have turned to al Qaeda’s men in the face of extreme pressure and violence from the Islamic State’s local wing.
Several communities in Mali’s northern Menaka Region have turned to al Qaeda’s men in the face of extreme pressure and violence from the Islamic State’s local wing.
Around 400 civilians, mainly from a small ethnic group in northern Mali’s rural border areas near Niger, have been killed by the Islamic State since March 8.
In this week’s edition of the Islamic State’s weekly Al-Naba newsletter, the jihadist group claims a series of wide-ranging operations across the Sahel. This includes last month’s massacre of French aid workers in Niger, as well as a spate of battles with al Qaeda’s men.
The large video details several major Islamic State operations inside the Sahel over the last few years.
The Islamic State’s men in the Sahel have claimed a recent IED on US troops in Niger, as well as downing a French helicopter and assassinating a Tuareg militia member in Mali.
The Islamic State has released its first official attack claim from northern Mali.
Over the weekend, al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed a series of attacks across Mali, continuing its recent uptick in activity. Most notably, the group took credit for a dubious suicide bombing attempt on French troops near the northern city of Timbuktu “Continuing its earlier vow to escalate its operations […]
In a military operation yesterday, the French reportedly killed a top Tuareg commander for the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in Mali’s northern Menaka region.