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State adds Islamic State in the Greater Sahara to terrorist list
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.
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Niger thwarts jihadist prison break attempt
Today’s attempted prison break is just the most recent in a spate of attacks in Niger from suspected Malian-based jihadists.
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AQIM confirms death of former MUJAO spokesman
Despite having initially denied his death, AQIM finally confirms the death of one of its former spokesmen two years after his reported death.
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Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb says Mokhtar Belmokhtar is ‘alive and well’
AQIM denies that Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in US airstrikes earlier this month. The jihadists have now released five statements on the matter. Two of the statements deny Belmokhtar has been killed, while the other three imply he is alive. None of them say he is dead.
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Confusion surrounds West African jihadists’ loyalty to Islamic State
A jihadist leader known as Adnan Abu Walid al Sahrawi has declared allegiance to the Islamic State. It appears that he has pledged fealty to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi on behalf of MUJAO, a jihadist group in West Africa. There is no indication that al Qaeda loyalists, such as Mokhtar Belmokhtar, have also defected.
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Al Murabitoon claims Ansongo suicide attack
The explosion killed three civilians and left 16 wounded, including nine Nigerien UN peacekeepers. The group said that it was directly targeting Nigerien troops because of Niger’s president Mahamadou Issoufou’s response in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.
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French forces free Dutch hostage in Mali
Dutch national Sjaak Rijke has been freed from captivity after being held in Mali since 2011. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al Qaeda’s official branch in North Africa, is still believed to be holding two other men captured with Rijke in Timbuktu.
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Jihadists in Mali step up attacks, kill 7 soldiers
Despite a French-led counterterrorism operation in Mali and the Sahel, al Qaeda-linked violence continues to be a problem.
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1 French commando and 20 militants killed in Mali, 9 Nigerien troops killed in Niger
The firefights in both Mali and Niger represent a sharp increase in violence since the beginning of this year.
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9 UN troops killed in Mali ambush
Yesterday’s ambush in Gao is the worst attack on UN forces since they took over security responsibilities in the summer of 2013.
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Death of French hostage in Mali
This week, Agence France-Presse received a disturbing call from a terrorist group announcing the death of French hostage Gilberto Rodrigues Leal.
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MUJAO spokesman reported killed in French airstrike
Malian officials claimed that Oumar Ould Hamaha, whom the US has offered a $3 million reward, was killed. The report is unconfirmed.
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US adds Belmokhtar’s brigades to terrorist lists
Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s al-Mulathameen Brigade is behind terror attacks in Niger, Algeria, and Mali. Its “aliases,” the al-Murabitoon Brigade and al Mua’qi’oon Biddam, have also been added to the US’s lists of terror groups.
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Al Qaeda group led by Belmokhtar, MUJAO unite to form al-Murabitoon
Mokhtar Belmokhtar united his group, the al-Mulathameen Brigade, with Ahmed el Tilemsi’s Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa to form the al-Murabitoon. The new group has praised the emirs of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
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MUJAO suicide bombers hit uranium mine, barracks in Niger
The al Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa said the suicide attacks were intended to punish Niger for “cooperation with France in the war against Sharia” in Mali.
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MUJAO leader says Belmokhtar is alive
Hamad el Khairy, the head of the MUJAO’s sharia committee, said reports of Belmokhtar’s death are “merely unfounded lies” and have “no basis of truth.”
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US adds West African group, 2 leaders, to terrorism list
The US government has added the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa and two of its leaders to the list of global terrorists and entities. The group has named one of its units fighting in Mali after Osama bin Laden.
