| Ansar Dine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | 2012 (2012)–2017 (2017) |
| Active regions | Mali Senegal Mauritania |
| Ideology | Salafi jihadism Salafi movement |
| Opponents | State opponents Non-state opponents |
| Battles and wars | |
Ansar Dine (Arabic:أنصار الدينʾAnṣār ad-Dīn, also transliteratedAnçar Deen), meaning "helpers of thereligion" (Islam)[2] (Defenders of the Faith[3]) and also known asAnsar al-Din (abbreviated asAAD),[4] was aSalafi jihadist group led byIyad Ag Ghaly. Ansar Dine sought to impose absolutesharia acrossMali.[5][6] The grouptook over the city ofTimbuktu in 2012, which prompted the French-led intervention,Operation Serval.[7]
The organization is not to be confused with theSufi movementAnçar Dine, founded in Southern Mali in the 1990s byChérif Ousmane Madani Haïdara, which is fundamentally opposed to militant Islamism.[8][9] Ansar Dine was opposed toSufi shrines, and it had destroyed a number of such shrines.[10]
Ansar Dine was active from March 2012 until March 2017, when it merged with other militant Islamist groups to formJama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.[11]
Ansar Dine had its main base among theIfora tribe from the southern part of the Tuaregs' homeland.[citation needed] It had been linked withAl-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) because its leaderIyad Ag Ghaly is the cousin of AQIM commander Hamada Ag Hama.[6] In April 2012, Salma Belaala, a professor atWarwick University who does research onjihadism inNorth Africa said that this association was false, claiming that Ansar Dine was opposed toAl Qaeda.[12] Ag Ghaly was also previously associated with the1990 Tuareg rebellion.[6] The group's members were reported to come from Mali,Algeria, andNigeria.[13]Omar Ould Hamaha, who served as Ansar Dine'sspokesman after April 2012, became the military leader of the AQIM-affiliatedMovement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) in August 2012.[14]
On 24 January 2013, a faction which called itself theIslamic Movement for the Azawad split from Ansar Dine. As of January 2013, this group was led by the prominent Tuareg leaderAlghabass Ag Intalla.[15][16]
In March 2013, it was designated as aForeign Terrorist Organization by theU.S. Department of State,[17] and similarly classed as a terrorist organization by theUnited Nations Security Council.[18] andIraq in 2019.[19]
InMopti, the Ansar Dine fighters obtained access toheavy construction equipment from fleeing construction workers and used it to build fighting positions. The fighting positions included an elaborate tunnel network and vehicular obstacles such astrenches.[20]
Ansar Dine had reportedly put together at least one convoy of 100 vehicles carrying soldiers equipped with small arms.[21] There had also been rumors that fighters may have been able to obtain weapons fromLibya's weapons depots after the fall ofMuammar Gaddafi.[22] The Ansar Dine arsenal also includedanti aircraft weapons which can be mounted onpickup trucks.[23][24]
The group sought to imposesharia law acrossMali, including theAzawad region. Witnesses had said that Ansar Dine fighters wore long beards and flew black flags with theshahada (Islamic creed) emblazoned in white.[25][26][27] According to different reports, unlike theNational Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), Ansar Dine did not seek independence but rather to keep Mali intact and convert it into a rigidtheocracy.[28][29]
On 21 March 2012, the group claimed control of Mali's vast northeast regions. TheAgence France-Presse reported that Ansar Dine claimed to occupy the towns ofTinzaouaten,Tessalit, andAguelhok, all close to theAlgerian border, and that they had captured at least 110 civilian and military prisoners.[30] France accused the group of summarily executing 82 soldiers and civilians in capturing Aguelhok, describing the group's tactics as "Al-Qaeda-style".[30]
On 22 March,mutineering Malian soldiers unhappy withAmadou Toumani Touré overthrew the Malian government in acoup d'état. Taking advantage of Malian disarray, Ansar Dine and MNLA proceeded to take the towns ofKidal,Gao, andTimbuktu within the following ten days. According toJeremy Keenan of theSchool of Oriental and African Studies, Ansar Dine's military contribution was slight compared to the much larger MNLA: "What seems to happen is that when they move into a town, the MNLA take out the military base—not that there's much resistance—and Iyad [Ag Aghaly] goes into town and puts up his flag and starts bossing everyone around about sharia law".[31]
On 3 April, the BBC reported that the group had started implementingSharia law inTimbuktu.[28] That day, Ag Ghaly gave a radio interview in Timbuktu announcing that Sharia would be enforced in the city, including the veiling of women, the stoning ofadulterers, and the punitivemutilation of thieves. According to Timbuktu's mayor, the announcement caused nearly all of Timbuktu's Christian population to flee the city.[32] On 6 April, the MNLA issued adeclaration of independence. However, the military wing of Ansar Dine rejected it hours after it was issued.[33]
Ansar Dine was reportedly responsible for the burning of the tomb of theSufi saintSidi Mahmoud Ben Amar, aWorld Heritage Site, on 4 May in Timbuktu.[10] The group also blocked ahumanitarian convoy bringing medical and food aid from reaching Timbuktu on 15 May, objecting to the presence of women in the welcoming committee set up by city residents;[34] after negotiations, the convoy was released on the following day.[35] InGao, the group reportedly bannedvideo games, Malian and Western music, bars, and football.[34]
On 26 May, the MNLA and Ansar Dine announced a pact in which they would merge to form an Islamist state called the "Islamic Republic of Azawad".[36]
However, some later reports indicated that the MNLA had decided to withdraw from the pact, distancing itself from Ansar Dine.[37][38] MNLA and Ansar Dine continued to clash,[39] culminating in theBattle of Gao on 27 June, in whichMovement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Ansar Dine took control of the city, driving out the MNLA. The following day, Ansar Dine announced that it was in control of all the cities of northern Mali.[40]
In the summer of 2012, members of Ansar Dine broke down the doors of theSidi Yahya Mosque, which, according to legend, were not to be opened until theLast Days. They claimed that reverence for the site was idolatrous, but offered roughly $100U.S. dollars to repair the mosque.[41]
Ansar Dine was in peace talks with Mali's neighboursBurkina Faso andAlgeria.[42]
In late January 2013, during the FrenchOperation Serval against the Islamist fighters in Northern Mali, a faction split off from Ansar Dine, led by Alghabass Ag Intalla(h). It called itself theIslamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) and claimed to be ready for negotiations and to reject extremism and terrorism as well as any association withAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.[43][44][45]
In March 2017, Iyad Ag Ghaly appeared in a video alongside leaders from the Saharan branch ofAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,Al-Mourabitoun and theMacina Liberation Front, in which it was announced their groups were merging under Ag Ghaly's leadership, in an organisation calledJama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.[1][11]
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