al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (Arabic: تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, romanized: Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM,[14] is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state.[15] To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
- Abdelmalek Droukdel † (2007–2020)
- Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi (2020–present)
2007–present
The Maghreb and the Sahel
Non-state allies
- Ansaru (2012–present)
- Ansar Dine (2012–2017)
- Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (2011–2013)[11]
- Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia) (2011–present)[12]
- Al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula (2007–present)
- al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (2009–present)
- Al-Mulathameen (2012–2013)
- Algeria
- United Nations
- NATO
- European Union
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- Russia
- China
- Japan
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- United Arab Emirates
- Malaysia
The group originated as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). It has since declared its intention to attack European (including Spanish and French) and American targets. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, Australia, Canada,[16] Malaysia,[17] Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom[18] and the United States.
Membership is mostly drawn from the Algerian and local Saharan communities (such as the Tuaregs and Berabiche tribal clans of Mali),[19] as well as Moroccans from city suburbs of the North African country.[20][21][22][23] The group has also been suspected of having links with the Horn of Africa-based militant group Al-Shabaab.[24] AQIM has focused on kidnapping for ransom as a means of raising funds and is estimated to have raised more than $50 million in the last decade.[25]
On 2 March 2017, the Sahara branch of AQIM merged with Macina Liberation Front, Ansar Dine, and Al-Mourabitoun, into Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.[26]
Name[edit]
The group's official name is Organization of al-Qa'eda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (Qaedat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Maghrib al-Islami), often shortened to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM, from French al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique, AQMI).[27] Prior to January 2007 it was known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (Arabic: الجماعة السلفية للدعوة والقتال al-Jamā'ah as-Salafiyyah lid-Da'wah wal-Qiṭāl) and the French acronym GSPC (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat).[28]
Leadership[edit]
Key leaders and operatives of this group included Yahya Abu El Hammam, who served as a senior leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), planning operations and kidnapping Westerners in North and West Africa. He was wanted by the US Rewards for Justice Program with a $5 million bounty for his arrest. Hammam played a key role in perpetuating AQIM's terrorist activities in West Africa and Mali, and participated in several AQIM terrorist attacks in Mauritania. In December 2013 Yahya Abu Hammam gave an interview to Aljazeera in which he threatened France's military intervention in the Sahara would open "the gates of hell for the French people".[41]
In July 2010, Hammam was reportedly involved in the killing of a seventy-eight-year-old French hostage in Niger. In 2006, Hammam was sentenced to death in absentia by Algerian authorities for terrorism-related charges.[42] Hammam was killed by French forces in February 2019.[43]
Statements[edit]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates a media outlet known as Al-Andalus, which regularly releases propaganda videos showing AQIM operations, hostages, and statements from members.[48]
According to London-based risk analysis firm Stirling Assynt, AQIM issued a call for vengeance against Beijing for mistreatment of its Muslim minority following the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.[49]
AQIM voiced support for demonstrations against the Tunisian and Algerian Governments in a video released on 13 January 2011. Al Qaeda offered military aid and training to the demonstrators, calling on them to overthrow "the corrupt, criminal and tyrannical" regime, calling for "retaliation" against the Tunisian government, and also calling for the overthrow of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
AQIM leader Abu Musab Abdul Wadud appeared in the video, calling for Islamic sharia law to be established in Tunisia.[50] Al Qaeda has begun recruiting anti-government demonstrators, some of whom have previously fought against American forces in Iraq and Israeli forces in Gaza.[51]
AQIM endorsed efforts in Libya to topple the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, though it remains unclear how many fighters in Libya are loyal to al-Qaeda, or members of it. Gaddafi seized on the expression of support and help for the rebel movement to blame al-Qaeda for fomenting the uprising.[52]
Media related to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb at Wikimedia Commons