Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa

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The movement for unity and jihad in West Africa (French: "Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest", MUJAO , Arabic جماعة التوحيد والجهاد في غرب إفريقيا, DMG Ǧamā'at at-tauhid wa-l-ǧihād fī Garb IFRIQIYA  The group of tauhid (uniqueness) and the Dschihad (Holy War) in West Africa ') is a militante Islamic group in West Africa.

aims

The movement emerged in 2011 from the “Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQMI). Its aim is to expand jihad to all of West Africa, including regions that are not the focus of the AQMI.

Operations

The group became known on December 12, 2011 when they published a video about three kidnapped development workers, including two women who were being held in western Algeria .

In 2012, MUJAO, along with AQMI and Ansar Dine, was one of the three Islamist groups that brought northern Mali under their control. The Tuareg rebel army "National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad" (MNLA) was largely ousted. In June 2012, MUJAO was involved with Ansar Dine in the fighting over the city of Gao , in which at least 35 people were killed. In July 2012, MUJAO fighters also took over the northern city of Ansogo and chased away the MNLA insurgents.

In August 2012, all western music was banned in the Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal regions . After the MNLA had temporarily regained control of the city of Ménaka in October 2012 in the district of the same name , it was expelled again by MUJAO in November 2012 when it was recaptured.

On May 24, 2013, MUJAO carried out an attack on a uranium plant owned by the French Areva group in Arlit . At least 49 people were injured in the attack. A short time later, MUJAO members also took hostages in a military camp in Agadez , which was bloodily terminated by the French army a day later.

In resolution 2374 (2017) on the situation in Mali, adopted by the UN Security Council on September 5, 2017 , the latter condemned not only the activities of other terrorist organizations but also those of MUJAO. Members of it are therefore also threatened by international sanctions.

See also

Conflict in Northern Mali (since 2012)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New Qaeda spin-off threatens West Africa , Al-Ahram , December 22, 2011, in English.
  2. AFP: Mali: au moins 35 morts dans les affrontements islamistes / Touareg à Gao , Agence France-Presse, Google News, June 30, 2012, in French.
  3. Islamists take control of northern Mali , Die Welt, July 12, 2012, and Tuareg rebels lose their last base ( memento of July 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Tagesschau, July 12, 2012
  4. Mali: la musique occidentale bannie des ondes , Le Point, August 22, 2012, in French.
  5. ^ Conflict in Mali: Islamists conquer important city , taz, November 19, 2012.
  6. Le Nouvel Observateur: NIGER. Double assassination: 24 morts, un terrorist retranché
  7. Le Parisien: VIDEOS. Niger: le Mujao revendique un double attentat et menace la France
  8. Le Monde: Niger: Belmokhtar aurait "supervisé lui-même" les attaques
  9. UN Security Council: Resolution 2374 (2017). UN, September 5, 2017, accessed September 15, 2017 .