OVERVIEW

Ansar al-Dine Flag

Ansar al-Dine (AAD) was an al-Qa‘ida–aligned armed group that aspired to create an Islamic state in Mali, targeting Malian civilians and government forces as well as foreign troops and peacekeepers. AAD formed in November 2011 as a Tuareg rebel group under Iyad Ag Ghali and in mid-2012 began an association with AQIM, in part because of their shared desire to implement sharia law in Mali. After a coup in 2012 toppled the Malian Government, AAD seized control of territory in northern Mali until a French intervention in 2013 ousted the militants, leading AAD to retreat and regroup. In mid-2016, AAD reemerged and in a matter of days conducted four attacks that killed 21 people and injured 35. In 2017, AAD merged with three other extremist groups to form Jama‘at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), and Ghali was named the overall JNIM amir.

OPERATING AREA
Central and northern Mali

MEMBERS
Unknown

TACTICS AND TARGETS
Since 2017, AAD has carried out many of its attacks alongside other JNIM component groups conducting ambushes, roadside bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and suicide bombings. Fighters have used small arms, light and heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, landmines, mortars, and rockets. Historically the group has targeted Malian civilians and security forces, French troops, and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department added the group’s leader, Iyad Ag Ghali, to its list of specially designated global terrorists in February 2013 and designated AAD a foreign terrorist organization one month later.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS