maliontheground

Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 2: Belmokhtar & Those Who Sign with Blood

Posted: 20th January 2013 on jihadica.com by Andrew Lebovich The man allegedly behind the gas facility attack, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, had, until recently, run AQIM’s Katibat al-Moulathimin (“The Veiled Brigade”), a reference to the practice of male veiling common in parts of the Sahel. In October 2012 AQIM stated that Belmokhtar had been “suspended” from the command of the … Continue reading →

Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 3: Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa

Posted: 22nd January 2013 on jihadica.com by Andrew Lebovich The Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO, in French) is an AQIM splinter group that publicly appeared in December 2011, when they claimed the kidnapping of three European aid workers in Tindouf, Algeria. Led by the Mauritanian Hamada Ould Kheiru, an explosives expert, … Continue reading →

Looking Ahead in Mali

By SCOTT STRAUS and LEIF BROTTEM Published: January 18, 2013 in NYT CHANCES are that French air power combined with superior numbers and equipment on the ground in Mali will prevail and force the jihadis to retreat in some fashion to the Sahel. That, however, will hardly be the end. We know from previous wars … Continue reading →

New statement from Jamā’at Anṣār al-Muslimīn Fi Bilād al-Sūdān’s Abū Yūsuf al-Anṣārī: “Claiming Credit for Targeting Nigerian Soldiers Heading to Mali”

Mon avis sur le Mali

Originally posted on Hady Ba's weblog:
Il y a plein de gens que j’aime bien qui affirment que l’opération française au Mali est motivée par les plus bas intérêts économiques. Ce serait parce que le Mali disposerait d’immenses réserves minières que la France y mène une guerre impérialiste destinée à mettre en place un…

The Malian Front: France Wins First Round of the War, but Now What?

By Alan Boswell / Niono, Mali

The coup which isn’t a coup. Technically.

Malian Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra has resigned hours after he was arrested as he tried to leave the country, the AFP news agency reported, citing national broadcaster ORTM. “I, Cheik Modibo Diarra, I resign with my government,” Diarra declared in a brief speech aired by ORTM. He gave no reason for his decision. ViewPoint … Continue reading →

Mali intervention – The US take

By Craig Whitlock, Washington Post U.S. military planners have begun to help organize a multinational proxy force to intervene next year in Mali, the famine-stricken, coup-wracked African country that has become a magnet for Islamist extremists, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The international force would be led on the ground by several thousand Malian and West African troops but would … Continue reading →

Mali as “Libyan After-party narrative”

The Libyan Afterparty Continues.

Timbuktu Who’s Who Updated

Timbuktu Who’s Who.