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Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 2: Belmokhtar & Those Who Sign with Blood

January 20, 2013 by Andrew Lebovich 15 Comments

The man allegedly behind the gas facility attack, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, had, until recently, run AQIM’s Katibat al-Moulathimin (“The Veiled Brigade”), a reference to the practice of male veiling common in parts of the Sahel.  In October 2012 AQIM stated that Belmokhtar had been “suspended” from the command of the group, owing to Belmokhtar’s supposed deviations from the goals of the group’s leadership. Belmokhtar was purportedly at loggerheads with three AQIM leaders: AQIM’s amir Droukdel, the recently-appointed Saharan emir Yahya Abou el-Hammam, and Katibat Tariq Ibn Ziad commander Abou Zeid.

Belmokhtar’s spokesman denied the removal but in December Belmokhtar appeared on video for the first time to announce his departure* from AQIM and his creation of a new group, al-Mouwakoune Bi-Dima (“Those Who Sign with Blood”), a reference to the name of the GIA detachment responsible for the 1994 hijacking of an Air France flight. In his video, Belmokhtar said his group aimed to consolidate shari’ah in northern Mali. He also threatened to attack Algeria and France and called on Mauritanian imams to come to the aid of the “Azawad,” a term used largely (but not exclusively) by Tuareg nationalists to refer to northern Mali.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Belmokhtar’s close associate Oumar Ould Hamaha relayed that Belmokhtar remained under the orders of al-Qaeda central. Moreover, the “split” with AQIM does not appear to have inhibited Belmokhtar’s actions; by all available indications he took his fighters with him to his “new” group, and they have reportedly been working alongside jihadist MUJAO group in Gao and in In Khalil (more on them tomorrow). In telephone calls with journalists during the current hostage crisis, jihadis involved in the attack said they were from “al-Qaeda” before specifying their membership in al-Moulathimin and al-Mouakoune Bi-Dima. They further conveyed that the operation had been in the works for two months, suggesting that the supposed internal turmoil in AQIM did not adversely affect the complicated preparations for a major assault staged hundreds of miles away from northern Mali.

Algerian security officials said they took at least one member of the attack team alive, meaning that we may find out more about the group’s structure in the coming days and weeks. We do know that the attack team involved at least two longtime Belmokhtar aides, Abu al-Bara and Aberrahman al-Nigeri, and reports indicate that the hostage takers included Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, as well as possibly a Frenchman and a Canadian.

*CORRECTION: In the video, Belmokhtar does not actually announce a departure from AQIM, only the creation of al-Mouakoune Bi-Dima. Instead, the talk of a “split” came from press accounts, including an Associated Press interview with close Belmokhtar associate Omar Ould Hamaha (h/t @GCTAT on Twitter).

Filed Under: Algeria, AQIM

About Andrew Lebovich

« Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 1: AQIM
What’s Old is New Again: The Legacy of Algeria’s Civil War in Today’s Jihad »

Comments

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Trackbacks

  1. What’s Old is New Again: The Legacy of Algeria’s Civil War in Today’s Jihad « jihadica says:
    January 21, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    […] AQIM commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar announced in December the creation of a new combat unit, al-Mouwakoune Bi-Dima (“Those Who Sign with Blood”), much of the media coverage focused on what Belmokhtar said about […]

    Reply
  2. Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 2: Belmokhtar & Those Who Sign with Blood « jihadica says:
    January 21, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    […] Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 2: Belmokhtar & Those Who Sign with Blood Posted: 20th January 2013 by Andrew Lebovich in Algeria, AQIM 1 […]

    Reply
  3. Looking for al-Qaeda in Algeria says:
    January 22, 2013 at 12:28 pm

    […] responsibility (co-responsibility?) for the hostage crisis in Algeria; militants at the gas complex identified themselves as members of Belmokhtar’s group as well as al-Qaeda. So is Belmokhtar split from AQIM or […]

    Reply
  4. Obama’s Syrian Debacle | misterchambers says:
    January 27, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    […] massacre at a natural gas facility in In Aménas, on the Algerian-Libyan border, by an AQIM splinter group; with such large amount of money on the line, the ultimate intentions of such violence cannot […]

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  5. Not-so-Ideological, al Qaeda-linked, Islamist Narco-terrorists on the run in Mali | Selected Wisdom says:
    January 29, 2013 at 9:41 am

    […] Lebovich has done an excellent breakdown of the groups in Mali at Jihadica see: AQIM, old GIA/GSPC, Blood Signers, MUJWA, Ansar […]

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  6. François Hollande, “a close friend of Mali” | elcidharth says:
    February 2, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    […] The Islamists who do operate in northern Mali are a disparate group with diffuse goals, as this series of posts by Sahel expert Andrew Lebovich make clear. Ansar Dine just split, and it is likely that […]

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  7. Novinky z Blízkého východu: Leden 2013 | Sekuritaci.cz – studentský portál o bezpečnosti says:
    February 5, 2013 at 2:05 am

    […] http://www.jihadica.com/primer-on-jihadi-players-in-algeria-and-mali-pt-2-belmokhtar-those-who-sign-… […]

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  8. Drones Assassinations: More the Merrier | elcidharth says:
    February 9, 2013 at 10:11 am

    […] Primer on Jihadi Players in Algeria and Mali, Pt. 2: Belmokhtar … http://www.jihadica.com/primer-on-jihadi-players-in-algeria-and-ma… […]

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  9. What the Osama bin Laden raid discovered on al-Qaeda’s links in Algeria says:
    February 11, 2013 at 12:04 pm

    […] been planned. AQIM announced in October that he had been “suspended,” though there are signs that the two may still be cooperating closely. It’s worth noting that his new group is named after rebel group from Algeria’s civil […]

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  10. Office Space « jihadica says:
    May 31, 2013 at 10:39 am

    […] removed Belmokhtar from his position in that month, afterwhich he established his own group, the Blood Signers. But we did not specifically know why AQIM had taken its decision until […]

    Reply
  11. Blood Money: Connection the Dots in the Middle East | The New York Young Republican Club | Blog says:
    August 18, 2013 at 7:47 am

    […] massacre at a natural gas facility in In Aménas, on the Algerian-Libyan border, by an AQIM splinter group: with such large amount of money on the line, the ultimate intentions of such violence cannot […]

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  12. Jihadistische Gruppen in der Sahelzone (II): Al-Murabitun | Florian Peil says:
    October 14, 2013 at 5:41 am

    […] von MUJAO die Brigaden Salahedine und Ousmane Dane Fodio; von Belmokhtars Männern die Gruppe „Al-Muwaqi’un bil-Dima“ (Die mit Blut Unterzeichnen), die für den Angriff auf das Gasanlage von In Amenas […]

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  13. False flag (2) | Islametro says:
    November 19, 2014 at 1:17 am

    […] racconta che Mokhtar Belmokhtar, cioè colui che parla a nome di questi salnguinolenti firmatari,  è stato sospeso da AQMI nell’ottobre […]

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  14. Why al Qaeda Needs Donations More Than Ransoms | Foreign Policy Research Institute | International Policy Think Tank says:
    August 21, 2015 at 4:42 am

    […] grabbed international media attention in recent years.  Will his actions garner him and “Those Who Sign With Blood” more donations in the future?  Only time will […]

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