Al-Mourabitoun (jihadist group)
| al-Mourabitoun | |
|---|---|
|
المرابطون Participant in the Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002-present) Northern Mali conflict |
|
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| Active | August 2013 – 2 March 2017 |
| Ideology | Salafist jihadism |
| Leaders |
Abubakr al-Masri † Mokhtar Belmokhtar Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui |
| Area of operations |
 Algeria Burkina Faso Ivory Coast Libya Mali Niger
|
| Strength | Under 100 (May 2014, French claim) |
| Part of |
 Al-QaedaJama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen |
| Originated as |
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (until 2013) Al-Mulathameen (The Masked Men Brigade) |
| Became | Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars |
Northern Mali conflict In Amenas hostage crisis March 2015 Bamako shooting 2015 Bamako hotel attack 2016 Ouagadougou attacks 2016 Grand-Bassam shootings 2017 Gao bombing |
Al-Mourabitoun (Arabic: المرابطون, translit. al-Murābiṭūn, lit. 'The Sentinels') is an African militant jihadist organisation formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Masked Men Brigade. In 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group seeks to implement Sharia Law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger.
On 2 March 2017, the group's cells in Mali, along with Ansar Dine merged into the group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen.
Al-Mourabitoun is composed mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs from the northern Mali regions of Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao, but also includes Algerians, Tunisians and other nationalities. Its area of operations is in the north of Mali, near towns such as Tessalit and Ansongo.
The group's establishment was announced by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, however the group's leader who was said to be a non-Algerian veteran of the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan and the 2002 battles against American forces in the same country, later identified by French Intelligence as an Egyptian known as Abubakr al-Nasri (al-Masri). Abubakr was reportedly killed by French Special Forces in North Eastern Mali between 10 and 17 April 2014, as was senior commander Omar Ould Hamaha weeks earlier.
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