Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin

Nusrat al-Islam, officially known as Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin' (Arabic: جماعة نصرة الإسلام والمسلمين‎, JNIM; French: Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux musulmans, GSIM[5] English Support Group for Islam and Muslims) is a militant jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front, Al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.[6] It is the official branch of Al-Qaeda in Mali, after its leaders swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri.[7]

Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen
Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux musulmans
The Shahada flag commonly used by al-Qaeda.
Leaders	Iyad Ag Ghaly
Dates of operation	2 March 2017 – present
Headquarters	Tinzaouaten[1]
Active regions	Mali  Algeria  Niger  Libya  Mauritania  Tunisia  Chad  Burkina Faso
Ideology	Islamism
Size	800 (2018 estimate)[2]
Part of	Al-Qaeda
Allies	Ansar ul Islam[3]
Opponents	Mali  Algeria  Tunisia  Niger  Libya  France  United States
Battles and wars	the Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002-present) and the Northern Mali conflict
Designated as a terrorist group by	United Nations  United States  United Kingdom  France  Russia  China  Japan  Canada  Australia  European Union  NATO  Iraq[4]

  Territories under control of JNIM

History

On 2 March 2017, Iyad Ag Ghaly, Al Murabitoun's deputy leader, Hassan Al Ansari, Yahya Abu Hammam, Amadou Kouffa, and Abu Abderaham al-Sanhaji appeared in a video declaring the creation of Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, and their allegiance to al-Qaeda Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, AQIM's Emir, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and Taliban Emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada. They also praised killed al-Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.[8][9] On 16 March, Abdelmalek Droukdel released an audio message, approving the union between the groups.[10] On 19 March, Al-Qaeda issued a statement approving the new group and accepting their oath of allegiance.[11]

Two leaders sanctioned by the US Treasury's office were named as Ali Maychou and Bah Ag Moussa. Moussa was a former Malian army colonel who led an operation in March 2019 against the Malian Armed Forces base in Dioura that killed at least 21 Malian soldiers. Maychou was a native of Morocco who had claimed responsibility for a JNIM attack on a military camp that housed Malian troops in Gao, killing dozens. The Treasury office said Maychou held an operational role in JNIM's activities, while Moussa acted on behalf of JNIM's leader Iyad Ag Ghaly.[12]

The French government declared that 50 jihadists linked to the al-Qaeda group were killed in central Mali during an operation launched by the French anti-jihadist Barkhane force on 30 October 2020. The French force also confiscated arms and material and captured four of the jihadists live, as per French Defense Minister Florence Parly.[13] The French authorities also confirmed the death of a key JNIM leader Bah ag Moussa with four of his group. He was in charge of terrorist operations and training new extremist recruits.[14] France has deployed more than 5,000 troops in the Sahel region to combat insurgents.

References

1. Pellerin, Mathieu (November 2019). "Armed violence in the Sahara" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-05-23. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
2. "US warns of growing African terror threat". CNN. 19 April 2018. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
3. 11, Dakaractu. "Un nouveau mouvement djihadiste est né au Burkina Faso". Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. https://diyaruna.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_di/features/2018/12/20/feature-01
5. Buchanan, Elsa (3 April 2017). "Mali: Terror threat spreads after Sahel groups join forces to create new jihadist alliance". Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
6. "Al-Qaeda now has a united front in Africa's troubled Sahel region". 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
7. AP (3 March 2017). "Three Islamic extremist groups of Mali merge, pledge to al-Qaida". Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017 – via Business Standard.
8. Reuters. "Al Qaeda branch rallies jihadists to join forces after Mali merger - defenceWeb". Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
9. "Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin / Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) -- AQIM, Ansar Dine, Macina Liberation Front & Mourabitounes Coalition - Terrorist Groups - TRAC". Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
10. @Rita_Katz (20 March 2017). "2) Message comes 2days after #AQIM..." (Tweet). Retrieved 12 April 2017 – via Twitter.
11. @Terror_Monitor (19 March 2017). "#AlQaeda Central Welcomes Merger Of..." (Tweet). Retrieved 12 April 2017 – via Twitter.
12. "Two leaders of Mali al-Qaeda affiliate put on US terrorism list after attacks". Al Arabiya. July 16, 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
13. "French airstrikes kill over 50 people in Mali". DW.com. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
14. "French military kills Al Qaeda-linked commander Bah ag Moussa, four others in Mali". FirstPost / AP news aganecy. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.