Jeff Woodke, who spent over six years captive in the Sahel, and Olivier Dubois, who spent almost two years as a hostage, were finally freed from the clutches of al-Qaeda’s men in the Sahel. The United States has denied paying a ransom.
At least three Italians, one Polish citizen, and one American have been kidnapped in the Sahel over the last two months. At least five other Westerners remain in captivity in the region – all of which are held by jihadist groups.
Host Bill Roggio is joined by two Long War Journal regulars, Caleb Weiss and Andrew Tobin, to give listeners an update on what’s happening on the ground in Africa from the Sahel — including that more than 400 Malians have been slaughtered in under one month — to “elections” and Shabaab attacks in Somalia.
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.
Coming roughly a month after France reported it had killed Abu Walid al Sahrawi, the Islamic State’s leader in the Sahel, the Islamic State itself has finally subtly confirmed the reports. The jihadist group has not publicly named a successor.
The photo offers a rare look into jihadist governance in the Sahel, in which jihadists loyal to both al Qaeda and the Islamic State wield both direct and indirect control over many rural areas.
Almost 300 people have been killed in a series of mass killings in Niger and on a military position inside Mali. The Islamic State has officially claimed just one of the attacks, but it is believed to have carried out all of the massacres.
In an interview with the Islamic State’s Al-Naba newsletter, Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, attempts to paint al Qaeda’s efforts in the region as rife with internal squabbles and disunity.
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 two jihadist groups continue their rampage in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Two recently released booklets by the al Qaeda group are likely meant to assuage tensions both within and outside its organization.
The al Qaeda group has claimed a series of attacks across the Sahel in recent weeks.
Over the last month, the jihadist group has killed at least 174 Nigerien soldiers in three separate attacks.
The large video details several major Islamic State operations inside the Sahel over the last few years.
The Islamic State continues to make inroads in the Sahel, conducting several high-profile raids in the border region between Mali and Niger.
Both groups have claimed deadly assaults in Burkina Faso, playing into the already perilous security situation in the country.
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’s Amaq News Agency, one of the jihadist group’s official media arms, released its first combat video from Mali earlier today. The brief video claimed to show an ambush on French forces somewhere near Mali’s border region with Niger. While no specific date was given, the video likely portrays last month’s Islamic State […]
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.
The Islamic State’s West African province has gone on a recent spate of assaults on military bases in northeastern Nigeria.
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.
Three suicide bombers, including two girls, targeted a mosque and a Quranic school in Diffa, Niger, on Monday. The three are believed to have been sent by Abubakr Shekau’s Boko Haram faction.
The weekend clashes are the latest in a series of skirmishes and inter-communal killings between the two Tuareg militias and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
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.
French special forces took part in a large-scale joint operation with Malian and Nigerien troops, alongside Tuareg militias, against militants of the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara on April 1.
Sunday’s clashes between the Tuarag alliance and Islamic State-loyal militants in northern Mali is the first since early last month.
The Tuareg alliance says the vehicle, which was reportedly used by US troops in last October’s deadly ambush in Niger, was recovered after recent raids on Islamic State-loyal militants in northern Mali.
The recent battle comes less two weeks after the Tuareg militias last clashed with militants from the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
