Ansar al-Sharia (Mali)
Radical Islamist group that operates in Mali
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Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) (Partisans of Islamic Law) is a radical Islamist group that operates in the Azawad region of Mali.
Mali
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (2012–2013)[1]Ansar al Sharia
| Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dates active | 9 December 2012 – present |
| Country | Mali |
| Allegiance | Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (2012–2013)[1] Ansar al Sharia |
| Ideology | Islamism Salafi jihadism |
| Wars | Islamist insurgency in the Sahel |
Background
Following the Azawad insurgency in 2012, the northern region of Mali achieved de facto independence from the Mali central government, with the region taken over by a number of Islamist groups including Ansar Dine, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
On 9 December 2012, a group of Malian Islamists in the city of Gao announced the creation of a new group called Ansar al-Sharia, a name used by recently founded organizations in a number of Muslim countries including Yemen, Libya and Tunisia.[2]
Most of the group's leaders are from the Arab clans of Berabiches from Timbuktu; some of the families of this tribe reportedly have relations by marriage with elements of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.[3] The ethnic makeup of this group is in contrast to that of the Tuareg-dominated Ansar Dine.
Like the other Ansar al-Sharia groups, the branch in Mali is described as based on certain principles, such as opposition to western-democracy, Salafist Jihadism ideology and the goal of establishing an Islamic emirate.[2] Its formation was not accompanied by the provision of aid and religious preaching that has been typical of other branches of Ansar al-Sharia.[4]
Following the 2013 French intervention in northern Mali, the Jihadist groups formerly running the region switched to fighting an insurgency; however, Ansar al-Sharia has not been credited with participating in any of them.[4]
