Katiba Macina Explained

Katiba Macina
War:Northern Mali conflict
Designated As Terror Group By: Canada[1]
Active:January 2015 – March 2017; July 2022 – present[2]
Ideology:Salafist jihadism
Leaders:Amadou Kouffa
Size:3,000 [3]
Partof: Ansar Dine[4]
Successor: Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin
Battles:Northern Mali conflict

The Katibat Macina, also known as the Macina Liberation Movement[5] or Macina Liberation Front (MLF,), is a militant Islamist group that operates in Mali.[6] It is an affiliate of Ansar Dine.[7]

Origins and membership

See main article: Northern Mali conflict. In March 2012, the President of Mali Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état over his handling of an insurgency in Northern Mali. As a consequence of the instability that followed, Mali's three largest northern cities—Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu—were overrun by a mixture of Islamists and Tuareg Nationalists. By July, the Tuareg were pushed out by their former allies, and the area became dominated by Jihadist groups: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).[8]

In January 2013, the Islamists captured the town of Konna in Central Mali, after fierce fighting with Malian forces. They were driven out by French forces days later,[9] the start of a French-led military intervention known as Operation Serval. However, some fighters were able to retreat to hideouts in the mountains or deserts and regroup.[10] Ethnic Fulani veterans of the conflict make up the core of the group. The Fulani are around 9 percent of Mali's population, but are locally dominant in the Mopti Region, which was the center of the 19th Century Fulani-led Islamic state of Macina.[6]

History

Katiba Macina first came to prominence in January 2015, when it claimed responsibility for attacks in central and southern Mali. The group's leader is Amadou Kouffa, a marabout who had acted as commander for the Islamist militants in the 2013 Battle of Konna.[11]

The group has been responsible for attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers, French troops and Malian government forces, as well as civilians.[12]

In March 2017, Amadou Kouffa appeared in a video, alongside leaders from the Saharan branch of AQIM, Al-Mourabitoun and Ansar Dine, in which it was announced that they were merging their organisations into a group called Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.[13] [14]

Kouffa was reportedly killed by the French Army in November 2018.[15] In February 2019, however, France 24 reported it had obtained a 19-minute long video that appeared to show him alive.[16]

Links with other groups

On 10 January 2020, armed clashes took place between loyal members of Amadou Koufa and a some dissidents near the commune of Dogo within Katiba Macina. Several points of disagreement have led a faction of dissidents affiliated with Mamadou Mobbo to criticize Amadou Kouffa for the mismanagement of natural resources. Two combatants of Katiba Macina were killed as a result of these confrontations.

Mamadou Mobbo is one of those who helped Amadou Koufa to legitimize his fight in Macina, a region where Koufa is not originally from.

In a video published at the end of January, the group of combatants led by Mamadou Mobbo defected by pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and its Caliphate Abu Ibrahim al-Hachimi al-Qourachi, thereby seeking recognition for the Islamic State.[17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Currently listed entities . 21 December 2018 .
  2. Web site: Kontao. Fadimata. Militants attack Mali's main military base, situation 'under control'. Reuters. 22 July 2022. 23 July 2022.
  3. Web site: S/2024/556 . United Nations . 1 August 2024.
  4. News: Le Front de libération du Macina menace la France et ses alliés dans une vidéo. 19 May 2016. Radio France Internationale. 19 May 2016.
  5. Web site: Mali: Lawlessness, Abuses Imperil Population. Human Rights Watch. 14 April 2015 . 17 November 2015.
  6. News: Mali's Islamist conflict spreads as new militant group emerges. Reuters. 19 August 2015 . 17 November 2015.
  7. News: Ansar Dine's branch in southern Mali releases first video. 19 May 2016. Long War Journal. 18 May 2016.
  8. News: Jihadists' Fierce Justice Drives Thousands to Flee Mali. Nossiter. Adam. 18 July 2012. The New York Times. 18 July 2012.
  9. News: Over 100 dead in French strikes and fighting in Mali. Reuters . 12 January 2013 . 16 November 2015.
  10. News: France begins first stage of Mali military withdrawal. BBC. 25 May 2013. 25 May 2013.
  11. Web site: The Sahel's Militant 'Melting Pot': Hamadou Kouffa's Macina Liberation Front (FLM). The Jamestown Foundation. 17 November 2015.
  12. Web site: Macina Liberation Movement: New Terror Group In Mali Threatens Peace Agreement. Kathleen Caulderwood. 9 May 2015. International Business Times. 17 November 2015.
  13. Web site: Al-Qaeda now has a united front in Africa's troubled Sahel region. Newsweek. 3 March 2017. 4 March 2017.
  14. Web site: Islamic extremist groups to merge in Mali, pledge allegiance to al-Quaida. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114100/https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/islamic-extremist-groups-merge-in-mali-pledge-allegiance-al-quaida. 4 March 2017.
  15. News: Top Mali jihadist Amadou Koufa killed in French raid - army . BBC News . 24 November 2018 .
  16. Web site: Exclusive: Key Mali jihadist Amadou Koufa resurfaces to deny reports of his death. 28 February 2019. France 24. en. 1 March 2019.
  17. Web site: Jihadists in central Mali pledge allegiance to new Islamic State leader FDD's Long War Journal. 31 January 2020. www.longwarjournal.org. en-US. 27 March 2020.