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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.

Background[]

Following the Azawad insurgency in 2012, the northern region of Mali achieved defacto independence from the Mali central government, with the region taken over by a number of Islamist Jihadist 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 organisations in a number of Muslim countries including Yemen, Libya and Tunisia.[1]

Most of the group's leaders are from the Arab tribe of Barabiche from Timbuktu, some of the families of this tribe reportedly have relations by marriage with elements of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.[2] The ethnic makeup of this group is in contrast to 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 democracy, Salafist Jihadism ideology and the goal of establishing an Islamic emirate.[1]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Raby Ould Idoumou (12 December 2012). "Ansar al-Sharia sets up shop in Mali". Magharebia. http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/12/14/feature-01. Retrieved 26 December 2012. 
  2. Thomas Joscelyn (18 December 2012). "Ansar al Sharia in Mali". Long War Journal. http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/12/ansar_al_sharia_in_mali.php. Retrieved 26 December 2012. 
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