Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Abu Walid

Chechnya

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Saudi

Deceased

Big Shot

20051211

Link

Africa North

Senior Islamic State group commander killed in an operation by Malian state forces, the country's military said.

2024-05-01

[AFRICANEWS] A senior Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group commander wanted in connection with the deaths of US forces in Niger was killed in an operation by Malian state forces, the country's military said.

Abu Huzeifa , known under the pseudonym Higgo , was a commander in the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
...the succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar's al-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali...
The US State Department had announced a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning him.

Huzeifa is suspected of helping lead a 2017 attack on U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo , Niger , that resulted in the deaths of four Americans and four Nigerien soldiers. Following this attack, the American army reduced its operations with its local partners in the Sahel.

"The identification and evidence collected confirm the death of Abu Huzeifa known as Higgo, a renowned foreign terrorist ," the Malian army said in a statement late Monday.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane , leader of a Tuareg gang allied with the state, said his forces participated in the operation and that it took place in northern Mali .

A photo of Huzeifa broadcast by state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
shows him in military fatigues, with a long black beard and a machine gun in his hand.

Mali has experienced two coups since 2020 during a wave of political instability that has swept West and Central Africa. The country has been battling an increasingly serious insurgency led by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group for more than a decade .

The killing of the Islamic State group's commander over the weekend "could mean less violence against civilians in the region, but the threat remains high as there are certainly leaders with similar brutality ready to take control and to prove themselves," said Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.

Colonel Assimi Goita , who took power after the second coup of 2021, has promised to end the insurgency. The ruling junta cut military ties with La Belle France due to growing frustration at the lack of progress after a decade of assistance, and turned to Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group for support in security matters.

Mali has also formed a security alliance with Niger and Burkina Faso

...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed...
, which are also battling increasingly serious insurgencies and have also experienced coups in recent years. Although their armies promised to end insurgencies after deposing their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say violence has instead worsened under their regimes. The three countries share borders in the conflict-hit Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, and their security forces are overwhelmed in the fight against jihadist violence.

Link

Africa North

Mali frees IS-linked jihadists in prisoner swap: Sources

2023-07-09

[AlAhram] Mali has freed at least two jihadists from the Sahel affiliate of the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group in a prisoner exchange, a security official and two politicians told AFP on Saturday.

The Sahel country's military had in recent days released Oumeya Ould Albakaye and Dadi Ould Cheghoub, both members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
...he succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar'sal-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
, Niger, and Mali...
(ISGS), flying them from Bamako to the Gao region in the north, the security official said.

One of the politicians, an elected official in Gao, said that at least three jihadists were brought there on a military plane from Bamako.

All three sources said the operation was part of a prisoner exchange.

A fourth person, another security official, would not go so far but said a "gesture" was made "to protect the lives of our compatriots in mortal danger". He did not provide details.

Albakaye, an explosives expert, was captured by French forces in June 2022, before La Belle France withdrew its troops last year.

A security source who asked not to be named told AFP at the time that he had once been seen as a potential successor to former ISGS leader Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, who was killed by French forces in August 2021.

A regional chief commanding the areas of Gourma in Mali and Oudalan in neighbouring Burkina Faso, he was responsible for a large number of abuses against civilians in those countries, the military said last year.

Mali has been battling a security crisis since jihadist and separatist insurgencies broke out in the north in 2012.

Anger at the government's failure to stem the violence helped spark two coups in 2020 and 2021. The ruling junta has broken ties with traditional ally La Belle France and turned towards Russia.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

The name of the detainee during a special operation in Chechnya has been revealed

2023-04-13

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Chechen law enforcers detained a resident of Ingushetia Ramazan Babuev last night, who helped residents of Ingushetia put on the wanted list after the shelling of a traffic police post to escape, sources said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that tonight Ramzan Kadyrov reported that Chechen security forces had detained "a member of the bandit underground" in the village of Gvardeiskoye, Nadterechny district. Later, Kadyrov added that a participant in armed attacks on security forces in Ingushetia had been detained.

Security forces during a special operation in the village of Gvardeyskoye, Nadterechny district of Chechnya, detained a resident of Ingushetia, Ramazan Babuev, the News_ingushetii Telegram channel reported today, citing operatives.

According to the source, after the small arms attack of a police post on the border of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, residents of Ingushetia declared wanted came to Babuev's house in the village of Aki-Yurt in the Malgobek district of Ingushetia. They asked to be sheltered, after which Babuev took them to an abandoned koshara on the outskirts of Malgobek. On April 3, the security forces discovered the group, a shootout began, but all five managed to escape. Babuev was wounded in the hand and, in order to temporarily hide, moved to his cousin in Chechnya.

When the Chechen security forces arrived at the village of Gvardeyskoye for detention, Babuev tried to escape and received another light wound. In the department, he gave confessions about how he helped members of the bandit group. Security forces found ammunition on him, and a criminal case was opened against Babuev for illegal possession of weapons, the report said.

During the operation in Gvardeisky, Chechen security forces surrounded the house and offered Babuev to surrender, he tried to escape through neighboring land plots, but was wounded by law enforcement officers and detained, the Directorate4 Telegram channel informed today.

Ramazan Babuev is a friend of Movsar Kottoev, Babuev helped the residents of Ingushetia put on the wanted list, but did not participate in the shootings, the Telegram channel 1adat*, which is in opposition to the Chechen authorities, said today.

The ingterpol_news Telegram channel published a photo of Babuev's passport, from which it follows that he is 32 years old, a native of Malgobek, but received a passport in Chechnya. At the same time, Babuev's name is given as Ramzan in the passport photo.

The "Caucasian Knot" cannot confirm the authenticity of the statements of the telegram channels about the identity of the detainee in Gvardeisky and about the details of the operation. Officially, the name of the detainee has not yet been released. The Directorate of the Sledkom of Russia for Chechnya on their website and the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov on their pages in social networks by 18.30 Moscow time did not name the detainee, nor did they provide details of the special operation.

Recall that on April 5, during the counter-terrorist operation, the Ingush security forces discovered a group of alleged militants in the village of Zyazikov-Yurt. During the shootout, three police officers were killed and eight security officials were injured. The alleged militants managed to escape. The police of Ingushetia promised a reward for their help in the search for four residents of Ingushetia - Mikail Moshkhoev, Amir Bokov, Amirkhan Gurazhev and Adam Ozdoev.

On April 7, Amir Bokov surrendered to the security forces, the next day it became known about the detention of Mikail Moshkhoev. The losses of the security forces in the skirmish became the largest in terms of the number of casualties per day among the security forces in Ingushetia after August 2012, the "Caucasian Knot" calculated.

The security forces put Moshkhoev, Bokov, Gurazhev and Ozdoev on the wanted list after the March 27 attack on a traffic police post on the border with North Ossetia. Ramazan Eldiev and Movsar Kottoev were also put on the wanted list. Eldiev was found dead on the morning of March 29, and on April 5 it became known that another wanted man, presumably Kottoev, was found dead.

On April 3, the security forces found a group of alleged participants in the attack on a traffic police post on a farm in Malgobek, but the suspects opened fire on the security forces, wounded one of them and fled. The details of this series of incidents are collected in the "Caucasian Knot" report " Activation of the armed underground in Ingushetia in the spring of 2023 ".

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

How map of factional influence in Syria's Afrin is drawn?

2022-12-08

[NPASYRIA] In Afrin region, northwest Syria, ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-backed armed opposition factions belong to two main legions of the Syrian National Army (SNA); the First Legion, the Second Legion following the withdrawal of the Third Legion, amid presence of the security apparatus of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS — formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front).

On October 13, the HTS took control over Afrin following festivities with the Third Legion that was forced to retreat towards the city of Azaz and its countryside.

Since then, Afrin has been under the control of several factions in the security and military arenas, the most notable faction is the security apparatus of the HTS that has been controlling every aspects of the security in the city of Afrin and its countryside. The body is led by Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi and Abu Muhammad al-Abdeli.

Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
has military points and offices in the city of Afrin and the villages of Basouta, Jindires and Bulbul with no more than 400 personnel led by Abu Ubayda al-Sheikh.

Afrin has been under the control of ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and the SNA factions since 2018 following the so-called Olive Branch operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of preserving ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish "national security".

The operation caused the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 40 villages and five camps in Shahba region since then.

Sham Legion, led by Munzur Sarar al-Ikhwenij, is a main faction in the area and mostly supported by the HTS in Deir Balout, Jindires, Mabata, Basouta, Rajo and Kafr Janneh. The faction has military offices, olive refineries, drugs manufacture and coal factories in addition to a security apparatus.

Sultan Murad Division which is led by Fahim Issa and commanded by Nasser al-Nahar and Abu Walid al-Azi, is a main faction within the Third Legion that operates in Rajo, Kafr Janneh, Mabata, Afrin, Katmeh and Sharran.

The group has a security apparatus that is linked directly to the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish Intelligence Services (MIT) being the most pet faction to receive support from the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish side. It has about 800 security and military personnel operating in Rajo and Basouta.

Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat) led by Muhammad al-Jassem al-Turkmani, who owns the biggest drug manufacture in the area of Sheikh Hadid in the countryside of Afrin, the main bastion of al-Amshat.

In addition, it has offices in Mabata, Afrin city, Sharran, Midan Ikbes, Maydanki and Bulbul. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
there are no more than 300 fighters. It belongs to the Second Legion which is affiliated with the HTS.

The main secret supportive faction of the HTS in providing both ammunition and weapon in coordination with Sham Legion is al-Hamza Division, known otherwise as Saif Abu Bakr Division which has nearly 400 turbans in the whole of Afrin.

The division operates in 16 military posts in Raco and its countryside in addition to a security apparatus, ten security and military posts in Bulbul, and a drug manufacture in the village of Burj Abdullah, southwest of Afrin city which is also home to offices of al-Hamza Division. In Jinderis there are two points of the division besides Marata, Katmeh and Mashaleh.

Although they are affiliated with the Third Legion, Faylaq al-Majd (Glory Corps) and Division 51 observed neutrality in the recent struggle against HTS, and preserved their presence in the area of Raco in the northern camp added to military posts on several sections on the border with Turkey besides others in Katmeh and Sharran.

While Faylaq al-Rahman, Liwa al-Montaser, 9th Armoured Division, Suqour al-Sham Brigades and Liwa al-Fajr are all affiliated with the Second Legion which is subject to Fahim Issa, leader of the legion and that of Sultan Murad Division.

It is deployed in areas in Kafr Safra, Basouta, Ain Dara, Kerzayhel, Marata,, Mabata, Maydanki, and Sharran in both security and military offices.

However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
the most influential force in the region is HTS’ security apparatus. Its turbans wear the uniform of Ahrar al-Sham or of al-Amshat.

Civilian and military polices receive orders from the MIT directly to which it is affiliated solely and upon its instructions it behaves.

Link

Africa North

French army says senior Al-Qaeda leader killed in Mali

2022-03-08

[AlAhram] La Belle France's army said Monday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed Yahia Djouadi, a "big shot" of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) responsible for finance and logistics.

La Belle France's army said Monday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed Yahia Djouadi, a "big shot" of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) responsible for finance and logistics.

Djouadi, an Algerian also known as Abu Ammar al-Jazairi, was killed overnight from February 25 to 26 around (160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Timbuktu in central Mali, the army said in a statement.

His death "once again weakens al-Qaeda's governance" in Mali, it added, calling him "a major link in northern Mali and especially the Timbuktu area" to the Qaeda-aligned GSIM group.

A former "emir" of al-Qaeda's Libyan operations, Djouadi fled to Mali in 2019 and settled in the Timbuktu region, helping organise the group and coordinating supplies, financing and logistics, the army said.

It added that he was killed by ground forces supported by a Tiger attack helicopter and two drones.

La Belle France is preparing to redeploy some 2,400 troops away from Mali to other countries in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
facing cross-border jihadist insurgencies, after falling out with the military junta in Bamako.

While the pullout is set to stretch over six months, the army said that "operations continue against armed terrorist groups, especially against the top leaders of al-Qaeda, GSIM and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara

Deutsche Welle adds:

La Belle France has said forces from its Operation Barkhane contingent killed a senior regional al-Qaeda leader in an overnight raid near Timbuktu last week. Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other leg......
two UN peacekeepers have died in an explosive attack.

On Monday, two members of the UN's Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) force were killed in a roadside kaboom when the vehicle they were traveling in hit an improvised bomb.

"This morning, a supply convoy ... struck an improvised bomb north of Mopti," MINUSMA front man Olivier Salgado wrote on Twitter. Four other peacekeepers were maimed in the attack.

The nationalities of those killed and injured in the attack were not immediately released.

FUTURE OF UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN DOUBT
Western nations participating in the international mission have said the shifting situation on the ground may in fact compromise the 13,000-strong contingent, the annual mandate of which must be renewed this June. As with the French deployment to Mali, UN troops have been on the ground in the Sahel since 2013 in an effort to halt the advance of Islamic fighters who began seriously challenging governments and civilians in the region in 2012.

MINUSMA troops have been heavily dependent upon French air and medical support throughout their mission. La Belle France's withdrawal from Mali, as well as the recent coup, has caused contributing nations such as Germany, Sweden and Denmark to rethink their commitment to it.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Idlib: War of all against all continues

2022-02-21

The areas of #Syria’s #Idlib under the control of #HTS and the Turkish-backed factions are witnessing continuous killings and security chaoshttps://t.co/7pIoZTnTpq
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) February 20, 2022

mutual shelling between government and opposition continues as usual in #Syria’s northwest areas. #HTS https://t.co/I6ot2uYVxl
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) February 20, 2022

The opposition factions’ sites in the towns of al-Fatira, Kafr Aweid, Sufuhn, al-Bara, the outskirts of Kasanfra and al-Ruwaiha in Zawiya mountain, south of Idlib, were hit with heavy artillery and missiles by the government forces, North Press reported military sources in the opposition.

"The sites of the opposition factions in the towns of Taqad, Kafr Ta’al and the outskirts of Kafr Noran, west of Aleppo, were also bombed by the government forces," the sources added.

"The government forces’ sites near the town of Jobas, east of Idlib, were hit with Katyusha rockets by al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room," according to the sources.

According to the sources, al-Fateh al-Mubin managed to destroy a military bulldozer and a 14.5-caliber machine gun near al- Malajah in Zawiya Mountain, using guided missiles."

#HTS admitted the presence of foreign fighters in #Syria's #Idlib. https://t.co/jm4MmbCc30
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) February 20, 2022

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS, formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front) admitted, yesterday, the presence of imported muscle or those known as "al-Muhajirin" in Idlib, northwest Syria, two days after Australia designated it as a terrorist organization.

Last week, Australia listed HTS and the Guardians of Religion on its list of outlawed terrorist organizations.

This came through a statement issued by HTS, in which it obligated the families of migrant and imported muscle to evacuate their houses in Idlib.

The HTS security services issued a warning to more than 30 families of various foreign nationalities of the necessity of evacuating their houses within a maximum period of 10 days, local sources told North Press.

HTS security forces summoned a number of members, while similar warnings were issued to the wives of detainees in HTS prisons, to evacuate their houses before the end of the specified period, without clearing the reasons, the sources added.

This step comes to pressure the fighters who work in formations outside the HTS faction, to join its ranks or leave its area of controls, according to the same sources.

The HTS is tightening the screws on members of other factions in Idlib, where it recently arrested several members and leaders of foreign nationalities, according to the residents.

Last October, HTS expelled Jund al-Sham faction, led by Moslem Abu Walid al Shishani, from Turkmen Mountain area in the northeastern countryside of Latakia, and arrested its leaders.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

US Army 'lied' about deaths of four soldiers at hands of ISIS in Niger

2021-11-12

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]

New documentary reveals explosive claims about four Army KIAs in Niger

Army Special Ops soldiers were killed in October 4, 2017 ISIS ambush near Tongo Tongo

Killed were four members of Operation Detachment Alpha Squad 3212: Sergeant La David Johnson, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sergeant Bryan Black, and Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright

Military brass claimed they went 'rogue' in attempt to capture ISIS leader

But documents suggest they were following orders in a foolish mission

Film claims high-ranking officers tried to cover up orders to protect themselves

ABC News documentary, 3212 Un-Redacted, will be released Thursday on Hulu

The ambush occurred one day after US soldiers and Nigerien forces attempted to locate and capture or kill Doundou Chefou, an ISIS subcommander in the region.

Ibrahim Doundou Chefou, a Sahel Fulani herdsman who got his start fighting against Tuareg cattle raiders from the Sahara, then eventually was promoted to #3 in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. The attack was ordered by ISIS-GS #1 Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi (also spelt Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui, nom de guerre Lehbib Ould), whom the French rendered toes up in September.

After two failed attempts to locate the insurgent, the convoy was returning to base when partner Nigeriens insisted on stopping in Tongo Tongo to eat and meet with village leaders. The meetings dragged out, leading the US soldiers to suspect that they were being stalled and delayed.

After leaving Tongo Tongo, the unarmored convoy fell into a trap and the Nigerien supporting forces melted away.

The trap: Twelve Green Berets and 30 Nigerian soldiers were reportedly attacked by 50-100 ISIS gunnies —depending who you believe — with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

In a chaotic confrontation, outnumbered three to one and without air support, the US forces lost four soldiers.

In a press conference discussing the findings of an AFRICOM investigation, General Thomas D. Waldhauser, then head of US Africa Command, claimed that Squad 3212 lied about its stated mission and never disclosed it was seeking Chenfou. But, according to the documentary, even a redacted AFRICOM report contained information contradicting that version of events.

The details of secret missions ought to be kept secret in the immediate aftermath and perhaps beyond, especially if higher ups want to try again. But surely there are ways to do that without unfairly blaming the innocent.

According to the report, 3212 was headed back to base when the unit received orders to head northwest toward the border of Mali, where officials had detected a cell-phone signal that suggested Chenfou was in the area. ODA 3212 Captain Mike Perozeni is on record vigorously objecting to the new objective, requiring his team to forge off into the desert at night.

He and the Master Sergeant were among the six disciplined for insufficiently training their team for the mission. Higher ups were not.

Nonetheless, his commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel David Painter demanded ODA 3212 adhere to these new directives.

Perozeni's protest over the order to pursue Chenfou flies in the face of the claim that the team was on a rogue mission to capture the insurgent -- a discrepancy that has never been explained.

The documentary also portrays interviews with family members of the fallen soldiers, who say that the Pentagon's falsehoods and inconsistencies about the incident were present from the beginning. While some of these discrepancies can be chalked up to early confusion in the fog of combat, the documentary makes the case that military leaders intentionally obfuscated facts in order to protect Painter and his boss, Colonel Brad Moses.

CYA is the technical term...

The film proposes that Squad 3212 was sent, ill-equipped and without proper support, on a foolish, dangerous mission, and then was set up to take the blame in order to protect military brass.

The attack raised questions about the US military's role in Niger, where about 800 US military personnel are stationed to train local forces and operate drones.

Across Africa, the US military maintains a network of 29 bases, according to a declassified map from 2019. Some two-thirds of the approximately 6,000 U.S. troops in Africa are stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti City.

Link

Africa North

France says drone strike killed leader of Islamic State in Sahara, Abu Walid al Sahrawi

2021-09-17

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

France says drone strike killed leader of Islamic State in Sahara, Abu Walid al Sahrawi.https://t.co/AcUMCtYzJ7

(by @thomasjoscelyn) pic.twitter.com/64u5Omj76o
— Pieter Van Ostaeyen (@p_vanostaeyen) September 16, 2021

Worth reading the entire article, especially alongside the Daily Mail article on the subject Skidmore gave us in a comment about yesterday’s story on the subject.

Link

Africa North

French soldiers kill Islamic State leader in Western Sahara, Macron says

2021-09-16

[DW] French troops have killed the leader of the west Africa branch of IS according to French President Emmanuel Macron. The group is responsible for scores of ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful attacks in several countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday morning that French military forces had killed Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in the Greater Sahara
<span style=color:maroon;>Islamic State in the Greater Sahara</span>

<span style=color:maroon;>Islamic State in the Greater Sahara</span>

...he succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar'sal-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
, Niger, and Mali...
(ISGS).

"It's another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel," Macron wrote in a tweet.

ISGS is active across large swathes of the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, especially the tri-border region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso known as Liptako-Gourma. The area has been ravaged by bad boy violence that has also targeted children.

Aside from carrying out multiple of attacks on local civilians, ISGS was also responsible for the killing of US soldiers in 2017 and the execution of six French NGO workers in August of last year.

INCREASING VIOLENCE IN THE TRI-BORDER REGION
There are currently around 5,100 French troops present in the region as part of Operation Barkhane. They are joined by soldiers from Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.

Due to the increasing violence, La Belle France has repeatedly pushed for support from other European countries. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
given minimal successes and growing criticism at home, Macron has said that the number of French soldiers in deployment will be halved by 2022.

Sahrawi formed ISGS in 2015 following a split from another group, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), at which point he declared his group's allegiance to IS, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) reports.

The group gained attention from IS media outlets in 2019 after carrying several attacks. ISGS has expanded its operations in recent months along the Niger-Burkina Faso border, according to ECFR.

Link

Terror Networks

Niger: State Department Terrorist Designation of Ousmane Illiassou Djibo

2021-06-30

[AllAfrica] Today, the United States is designating Ousmane Illiassou Djibo - also known as Petit Chapori - as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(a)(ii)(B) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

As a result of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Djibo. His property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked.

Ousmane Illiassou Djibo, a native Nigerien, is an Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Five suspected ISIS militants arrested in Erbil: Security council

2021-04-14