Iyad ag Ghali

With the French out of the picture attacks by Iyad ag Ghali's Al Qaida-aligned Jama'at Nasr al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) on Minusma are set to increase...

They are still committed to the fight against Iyad ag Ghaly's Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) in the tri-border zone linking Burkina Faso Mali and Niger...

Malians have criticised France's and the United States's opposition to dialogue between the government and some jihadist leaders such as Iyad ag Ghali who heads the Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM)...

And Iyad ag Ghaly leader of the Al Qaida-affiliated Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) militant alliance was not slow to imply parallels issuing a 10 August congratulatory audio message to the Taliban...

In Gao Menaka Timbuktu and Niafunké armed groups belonging to either Iyad ag Ghaly's loose coalition Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) or Idnan Abou Sahraoui's Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) continue to attack villages kill burn homes and steal cattle...

This year French operations have been targeting the Jama'a Nusrat ul Islam wa al Muslimin alliance headed by Iyad ag Ghaly before the July-August annual rains when it becomes more difficult for troops to move around...

In early April 200 Chadian soldiers attacked Aguelhok in eastern Mali claiming to kill 450 fighters of Iyad ag Ghali's Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) including one of his key lieutenants Abdallaye ag Albaka...

Militants split from Iyad ag Ghali's Al Qaida-affiliated Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) to form Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)...

This focus on Al Qaida-linked groups was presaged in a 1 February presentation by Bernard Émié head of France's Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE) intelligence service portraying both the 'bloodthirsty' ISGS chief Abouwalid al Sahraoui and the JNIM leader Iyad ag Ghali – 'a spiritual son of Usama bin Laden' – as major threats...