Unveiling the Elusive Leader: Iyad Ag Ghali and the JNIM

2023-07-30 15:07:52

It is a series of names, often faceless, whose CV is broken down into number of deaths and areas of influence. They are of diverse origins and have cut their teeth in various rebel or jihadist factions. All of them today have pledged allegiance to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (the JNIM, according to the Arabic acronym most often used).

At the head of this Sahelian subsidiary of the jihadist nebula Al-Qaeda: Iyad Ag Ghali. The Malian Tuareg took up arms on several occasions to demand the independence of Azawad (the name given by the secessionists to northern Mali) and to fight in Lebanon, Libya, or even Chad.

À LireMali: Iyad Ag Ghaly, the man who never dies

The French army has long considered him public enemy number one in the Sahel. A decade of French military intervention in Mali was not enough to neutralize it. The head of JNIM is a seasoned fighter and a shrewd strategist who, over the years, has been able to weave a network of influence and allegiances.

The one who responds, hierarchically, to Abou Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), has enlisted the loyalty of thousands of fighters. Many of them have died, but Iyad ag Ghali can still count on the support of armed lieutenants, theoreticians and Islamic judges to serve the propagation of the group and its ideas.

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