Islamic State – Sahil Province Explained

Islamic State – Sahel Province
Caption:Logo of The Sahil Province
Active:13 May 2015–present
Ideology:Salafi jihadism
Leaders:Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi
Abdulaziz Mahwaz Al-Jamal
Headquarters:Near Ménaka, Gao Region, Mali
Area:Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria
Opponents:State Opponents

Non-State Opponents

Size:2,000-3,000[3]
Designated As Terror Group By:See below

The Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui,[4] to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province[5] and naming it Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).

History

Al-Mourabitoun was created on 22 August 2013 after the merging of MUJAO and Al-Mulathameen.[6] On 13 May 2015, elements of Al-Mourabitoun under the leadership of Abu Walid al-Sahraoui pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.[7] [8] [9] [10] It operated independently until 30 October 2016, when it was formally recognized by the Islamic State.[11] [12] [13] [14]

The group's ranks increased by dozens of Malian militants and sympathizers from the Gao Region[15] near Ménaka.[16]

On November 28, 2019, Spanish authorities issued a warning on the possibility of a terror attack in the region against Spanish citizens visiting or working in the Saharawi refugee camps in Western Sahara.[17]

Spanish authorities feared the attacks would coincide with the Spanish Día de la Constitución (December 6) celebrations.[18] Secret services warned of the risk of a jihadist attack in the Sahara region at refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.[19] The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic denied this threat.[20] No attack happened.

During 2021, the group carried out massacres in Niger, mainly in the regions of Tillabéri and Tahoua, killing more than 600 people.[21]

In December 2021, the French Army announced that it had killed in Niger, one of the perpetrators of the assassination of six French humanitarian workers and their Nigerien companions in the Kouré reserve in August 2020. The man is presented as Soumana Boura. The staff had identified him as leading a group of several dozen EIGS fighters, in the Gober Gourou and Firo area, in western Niger. a member of the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara (EIGS).[22]

On 15 June 2022, it was announced the French military force captured Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a senior ISGS leader in Mali overnight between 11-12 June.[23]

Between 2022 and 2023, the group saw major gains in the Mali War, occupying large swarths of territory in southeastern Mali. Tidermène was captured by the group on 12 April 2023.

Organization, forces and location

Commanding officers

The group was founded and headed by Adnan Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui until he was killed by a French drone strike in Mali in 2021.[24]

Al-Sahraoui may have been replaced towards the end of 2019 by a new wali, Abdoul Hakim Al-Sahraoui. Among his other commanders are Doundoun Chefou, Illiassou Djibo alias Petit Chafori (or Djafori) and Mohamed Ag Almouner, known as "Tinka", killed by the French Army on August 26, 2018.

Forces

In early 2017, Marc Mémier, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI), estimated that the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara had a few dozen men – not counting sympathizers – mostly Malians in the region of Gao. At the end of 2015, RFI indicated that the group's workforce would total around one hundred.

According to a report from the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point, the EIGS had 425 combatants in August 2018.

Settlement area and ethnic base

The group is based in the Ménaka region.

As with other armed groups in the Sahel, jihadists or not, the EIGS is part of a largely community-based dynamic. A large part of its combatants is thus Peuls. In Mali, the latter are for the most part Nigerien nationals whom the droughts and the demographic surge of Zarma and Hausa peasants, which is exerted from the south to the north, have pushed on the Malian side of the border. Adnan Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui won the support of many members of this community by promising to protect them against raids and theft of cattle carried out by the Tuaregs, starting with the Dahoussahak (Idaksahak).

However, the EIGS would include members from the two communities. Thus, at present, the combatants of the EIGS are divided into two katibas (combatant units), one composed mainly of Daoussahak and the other of Peuls.

Analysis

Designation as a terrorist organization

CountryDateReferences
23 May 2018[25]
23 February 2020[26]
23 February 2020[27]
23 February 2020[28]
2 February 2021[29]
?[30]

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: IS Reveals Responsibility for Attacks in Benin, Marking Expansion of "Sahel Province" to Another Country . SITE . 15 September 2022.
  2. News: IS Reveals Attacks in Sokoto (Nigeria) and Tillaberi (Niger) in Naba 205 "Exclusive" . SITE . 25 October 2019.
  3. Web site: S/2024/556 . United Nations . 1 August 2024.
  4. News: Rewards for ISIS-GS Leader Adnan Abu Walid. 10 October 2019. VOA. 28 November 2019. 5 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191105013309/https://editorials.voa.gov/a/rewards-for-isis-gs-leader-adnan-abu-walid/5117310.html. live.
  5. News: The State of al Qaeda and ISIS Around the World . Chesnutt . Kate . 2022-09-08 . Critical Threats . Zimmerman . Katherine.
  6. News: Afrique : fusion de 2 groupes djihadistes . . AFP . Agence France-Presse . 22 August 2013 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 28 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190428142418/http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2013/08/22/97001-20130822FILWWW00250-afrique-fusion-de-2-groupes-djihadistes.php . live .
  7. News: Le groupe El-Mourabitoune prête allégeance à l'Etat islamique . Alakhbar . 13 May 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 23 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151123080734/http://fr.alakhbar.info/10162-0-Le-groupe-El-Mourabitoune-a-prte-allegeance-a-lEtat-islamique.html . live .
  8. News: El-Mourabitoune appelle les autres groupes jihaidstes à prêter allégeance à l'Etat islamique (Audio) . Alakhbar . 13 May 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 26 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151126173030/http://fr.alakhbar.info/10163-0-El-Mourabitone-appelle-les-autres-groupes-jihaidste-a-prter-allegeance-a-lEtat-islamique-Audio.html . live .
  9. News: Sahel : un chef d'Al-Mourabitoune prête allégeance à l'organisation de l'État islamique . . AFP . Agence France-Presse . 15 May 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 15 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170815024213/http://www.france24.com/fr/20150514-sahel-groupe-jihadiste-prete-allegeance-organisation-etat-islamique-belmokhtar-sahraoui-mourabitoune . live .
  10. News: Mali-Sahel: lutte de positionnement des groupes jihadistes . . 6 December 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 8 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208160007/http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20151206-mali-sahel-lutte-positionnement-groupes-jihadistes-belmokhtar-aqmi-al-mourabitoune-?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=editorial&aef_campaign_ref=partage_aef&aef_campaign_date=2015-12-06&dlvrit=1448817 . live .
  11. News: Mathieu . Olivier . Dix ans après sa création, où en est l'État islamique en Afrique et au Maghreb ? . . 13 October 2016 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 16 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161016034538/http://www.jeuneafrique.com/364909/politique/dix-ans-apres-creation-letat-islamique-afrique/ . live .
  12. News: Bel Mokhtar dément l'allégeance du groupe El-Mourabitoune à l'Etat Islamique . Alakhbar . 15 May 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212438/http://fr.alakhbar.info/10168-0-Bel-Mokhtar-dement-lallegeance-du-groupe-El-Mourabitoune-a-lEtat-Islamique.html . live .
  13. News: Mokhtar Belmokhtar récuse l'allégeance du groupe Al-Mourabitoune à l'EI . . AFP . Agence France-Presse . 15 May 2015 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 15 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170815024033/http://www.france24.com/fr/20150515-mokhtar-belmokhtar-al-mourabitoune-dement-allegeance-organisation-etat-islamique . live .
  14. News: Mali: le groupe Etat islamique officialise sa présence au Sahel . . 31 October 2016 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 1 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161101165035/http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20161031-mali-groupe-etat-islamique-officialise-presence-sahel-Abou-Walid-Sahraoui . live .
  15. Book: Mémier, Marc . AQMI et Al-Mourabitoun : le djihad sahélien réunifié? . January 2017 . 978-2-36567-661-8 . . 28 November 2019 . fr . 54 . 12 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170312043437/https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/memier_aqmi_et_al-mourabitoun_fr_2017.compressed.pdf . live .
  16. News: Niger: 15 militaires tués lors d'une attaque près de la frontière malienne . . 23 February 2017 . 28 November 2019 . fr . 26 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170226194354/http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20170223-niger-11-militaires-tues-attaque-frontiere-malienne-tliwa . live .
  17. News: Spain Warns of Possible Sahara Camp Terror Attack . 30 November 2019 . The New York Times . Associated Press . 28 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191129014826/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11/28/world/europe/ap-eu-spain-attack-alert.html . 29 November 2019 . en . dead.
  18. News: Los servicios secretos alertan del riesgo de atentado yihadista contra españoles en el Sáhara . Miguel . González . 28 November 2019 . 28 November 2019 . Madrid . . . es . 28 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191128005933/https://elpais.com/politica/2019/11/27/actualidad/1574857203_694061.html . live .
  19. News: Informes secretos alertan del riesgo de "atentado inminente" contra españoles en el Sáhara . 28 November 2019 . 28 November 2019 . . es . Gonzalo . Araluce . 28 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191128180448/https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20191128/informes-secretos-alertan-atentado-inminente-espanoles-sahara/447955433_0.html . live .
  20. News: Exteriores alerta del riesgo de atentado contra españoles en el Sáhara . 28 November 2019 . 28 November 2019 . . es . 28 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191128113737/https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20191128/471926528587/alerta-riesgo-atentado-espenoles-sahara-ministerio-de-exteriores-argelia.html . live .
  21. News: Gunmen kill up to 15 soldiers in southwest Niger, sources say. Reuters. 5 November 2021.
  22. News: Attaque de Kouré au Niger: l'armée française annonce avoir tué un membre du commando. RFI. 22 December 2021.
  23. News: France announces capture of senior Islamic State figure in Mali. Tangi Salaun. Sudip Kar-Gupta. Reuters. 15 June 2022. 18 August 2022.
  24. Web site: Ataman. Joseph. 16 September 2021. French President claims targeted killing of ISIS chief in Sahara. 16 September 2021. CNN.
  25. Web site: Foreign Terrorist Organizations . 1 October 2021 . 27 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200227062101/https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/ . live .
  26. Web site: ISIL (Da'esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee / Narrative Summaries of Reasons for Listing . n.d. . United Nations Security Council . United Nations . 1 October 2021 .
  27. Web site: Registro Público de Personas y Entidades vinculadas a actos de Terrorismo y su Financiamiento - RePET - . n.d. . Ministero de Justicia y Derechos Humanos . Presidencia de la Nación . 1 October 2021 .
  28. Web site: Designated individuals and organisations . 7 September 2021 . New Zealand Police . New Zealand Government . 1 October 2021 .
  29. Web site: Entités terroristes inscrites . 25 June 2021 . Sécurité publique Canada . Gouvernement du Canada . 1 October 2021 .
  30. Web site: Archived copy . 1 October 2021 . 31 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210531070119/https://moj.gov.iq/upload/pdf/4543.pdf . live .

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