Violence intensifies in Sahel by Al-Qaeda affiliate group GSIM

France’s armed forces said Friday they had killed
around 15 jihadists near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso, where an
al-Qaeda-linked group is active. Two
operations took place at the weekend in the Boulikessi sector in central Mali,
military headquarters said. On Saturday,
“French soldiers identified an armed terrorist group on motorbikes and guided
an aircraft to carry out a strike,” Frederic Barbry told journalists.
The commandos spotted another armed group the
following day and called in reconnaissance and attack helicopters to provide
support. “Around 15 jihadists were
neutralised and four were arrested in these operations,” while troops seized
weapons, motorbikes and materials used for making roadside bombs, he said.
So-called improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have
killed five French troops and four Ivorian soldiers with the UN peacekeeping
mission in Mali since late December. The
central region is a reputed stronghold of the Group to Support Islam and
Muslims (GSIM).
France’s military role there was placed in the
spotlight earlier this month when several residents in the village of Bounti
said about 20 people in a wedding party had been killed in a strike by a
helicopter. It occurred on January 3, they said, near where French forces said
they carried out an airstrike on jihadists using a fighter jet. France’s military has insisted it struck
jihadists, ruling out the possibility of any mistake.
The region is the epicentre of a deadly Islamist
offensive that began in northern Mali in 2012 and then advanced into
neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, inflaming ethnic tensions along the
way. Independent confirmation of
reports in this area is difficult, given the remoteness and danger.
On 2 March 2017, Iyad Ag Ghaly, Al Murabitoun's
deputy leader, Hassan Al Ansari, Yahya Abu Hammam, Amadou Kouffa, and Abu
Abderaham al-Sanhaji appeared in a video declaring the creation of Jama'a
Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, and their allegiance to al-Qaeda Emir Ayman
al-Zawahiri, AQIM's Emir, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and Taliban Emir, Hibatullah
Akhundzada. They also praised killed al-Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.
On 16 March, Abdelmalek Droukdel released an audio
message, approving the union between the groups. On 19 March, Al-Qaeda issued a
statement approving the new group and accepting their oath of allegiance.
Two leaders sanctioned by the US Treasury's office
were named as Ali Maychou and Bah Ag Moussa. Moussa was a former Malian army
colonel who led an operation in March 2019 against the Malian Armed Forces base
in Dioura that killed at least 21 Malian soldiers. Maychou was a native of Morocco
who had claimed responsibility for a JNIM attack on a military camp that housed
Malian troops in Gao, killing dozens.
The Treasury office said Maychou held an operational
role in JNIM's activities, while Moussa acted on behalf of JNIM's leader Iyad Ag
Ghaly.
The French government declared that 50 jihadists
linked to the al-Qaeda group were killed in central Mali during an operation
launched by the French anti-jihadist Barkhane force on 30 October 2020.
The French force also confiscated arms and material
and captured four of the jihadists live, as per French Defense Minister
Florence Parly.
The French authorities also confirmed the death of a
key JNIM leader Bah ag Moussa with four of his group. He was in charge of
terrorist operations and training new extremist recruits.
France has
deployed more than 5,000 troops in the Sahel region to combat insurgents.