The war in Northern Mali has assumed new and dangerous proportions after Islamic militants directly involved Mali’s main neighbor, Algeria, in the conflict, proving that they are able to hit other countries in their own homes, whenever they want.
The following are the most important Islamist groups, which seized northern Mali, their ideological orientations, foreign affiliations, loyalties, power, and funding resources.
The war in Northern Mali has assumed new and dangerous proportions after Islamic militants directly involved Mali’s main neighbor, Algeria, in the conflict, proving that they are able to hit other countries in their own homes, whenever they want.
The following are the most important Islamist groups, which seized northern Mali, their ideological orientations, foreign affiliations, loyalties, power, and funding resources.
After the fall of Gaddafi’s regime, some of these groups managed to enter Southern Libya in large numbers and loot the army’s arms depots which teemed with all types of weaponry. Having fought with Gaddafi’s forces, hundreds of armed Tuaregs also crossed the southern borders into their homes in Mali, and took with them military vehicles, sophisticated weapons and ammunitions.
Areas located in Northern Mali and its major cities, like Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal – together represent more than two-thirds of the country – are under the control of the following militant groups:
– Azawad Liberation Secular Movement: Seeks to separate the north to establish Azawad state, the Tuaregs’ historical dream. It has taken up arms for more than three decades, but has recently been weakened and almost disappeared under Islamic militant attacks.
– Ansar Dine: An armed salafist Islamic group that seeks to implement sharia law over Mali’s entire territory. It does not only demand independence for the country’s northern areas, but also seeks to establish a caliphate state over the entire Muslim lands in North Africa. It was founded by Iyad Ag Ghaly, a Tuareg from the Ifora tribe. He is a prominent figure and a historical leader from the early 1990s Tuareg rebellion. He comes from a prominent Azawad family in Kidal, far Northeastern Mali. He was influenced by Salafi ideology during his assignment as a diplomat in the Gulf and his mediation in freeing Western hostages kidnapped in 2003 by AQIM. Most of the movement members are Tuaregs, unlike the members of other groups, who are mostly Arabs. Ansar Dine is similar to Taliban in Afghanistan, considering its local growth and affiliation of most of its leaders and fighters with Mali. Its prominence and distinctive status is reportedly attributed to its alliance with AQIM which provided it with cash and weapons. It has succeeded in taking control of the ancient city of Timbuktu, Northwestern Mali, where it demolished the Sufi shrines and the archaeological sites including those listed by UNESCOs World Heritage List in 1988. It also set up a legal body comprised of some group members entrusted with security and justice.
– AQIM: Originated from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat in Algeria, led by Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud (a.k.a Abdelmalek Droukdel) who originated from the Armed Islamic Group. AQIM is the oldest and most experienced armed organization in the region. It is also the oldest in terms of communication with the tribal elders there. It has interlaced links with the region’s Tuaregs and Arabs. Besides, it is the basic link among various organizations, and the most deep-rooted, knowledgeable and experienced group in the northern areas. It operates under the Desert Emirate, the ninth region according to the AQIM administrative division. AQIM exists in a set of military zones where the Desert Emirate is spread over Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Libya, Mauritania, and Chad, which is called by AQIM “the Greater Islamic Desert”. The Emirate is currently under the command of Yahya Abu el-Humam, the former commander of al-Furqan Brigade, and its spokesman is Abdullah el-Shanqeeti. It is comprised of four military groups; two brigades and two companies: Tariq ibn Ziyad Brigade, led by Abdulhamid Abu Zaid; the Masked Brigade, led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar; al-Furqan Company; and Al-Ansar Battalion, led by Abdulkarim Tarki. Tariq Brigade and al-Furqan Company are stationed at Timbuktu region, while the Masked Brigade is stationed in Kidal, Aguelhok and the Tighargharine Mountains extending up to the Algerian borders and most of its fighters are Algerians, Mauritanians, Libyans, Moroccans, Tunisians, Malians, and Nigerians, and are organized into seventy cells comprising 3,000 fighters.
– MOJWA: Also a spinoff of AQIM, it is led by Mohamed Ould Nuwaymir, and most of its members are Arabs. It calls for jihad in West Africa, and its control is mainly concentrated in the city of Gao on the Niger River, after driving out the army and later the Azawad militants. Thanks to its financial resources, tribal links, and field presence, MOJWA could drive out all its Tuareg opponents from the city of Ansongo, following the major defeat inflicted on them on June 27, 2012 in Gao, one of the three major cities in Northern Mali. Like the rest of its militant allies, MOJWA claimed responsibility for kidnapping diplomats and foreigners, including Algerians, in the Gao region last April. It also executed an Algerian diplomat after the Algerian authorities’ refusal to conclude an agreement with it for the release of Islamist prisoners and payment of a ransom estimated at €15 million. MOJWA comprises four companies: Abdullah Azzam Company, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Company, Abu Laith al-Libi Company, and the Suicide Company. It has also a brigade known as Osama bin Laden Brigade led by Ahmed Ould Amer.
– Ansar al-Sharia: It was founded by Ammar Ould Hamaha, nicknamed ‘the red bearded’. He belongs to the Arab Barabish tribes. He says Ansar al-Sharia is a popular regional Islamic brigade aimed to implement Sharia in Mali. He could persuade most of the Arab Azawad Front elements from the Arab tribes in Timbuktu to join the movement. It enjoys the support of the Arabs living in Gao region. Ansar Dine leaders allowed the foundation of this brigade which holds a special identity as the only Arab Islamic group in a region where there are several groups based on multi-ethnicity. Ould Hamaha says he has founded his brigade out of jealousy over the Arabs and Barabish, who have been disregarded by their Tuareg brothers who went too deep into jihad. Ould Hamaha was an activist in Tablighi Jamaat, and later moved to what he describes as the sword stage with AQIM, the Masked Brigade, MOJWA, and then with Ansar Dine.
– Those who Sign with Blood Brigade: It is led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar (a.k.a Khalid Abu al-Abbas). He founded this brigade soon after his removal from the leadership of the Masked brigade by AQIM which describe his removal a mere administrative and organizational procedure taken by AQIM Prince, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, and adhered to by Abu al-Abbas. But, Belmokhtar founded a new organization composed of Fedayeen group named ‘Those who Sign with Blood’.
