In Aménas, AQIM, and Mokhtar Belmokhtar

By Jason Colella, Sr. Political Editor and Co-Founder

The Maghreb and Mali are currently in a state of seeming free fall -- chaos descending to the nations of North Africa. The chaos in Mali was a result of a coup d’état and succession movement in the northern state of Azwad lead by a group called the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). MNLA allied themselves with other groups that were more than happy to help overthrow the Malian government including Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). These two Islamic extremist groups have proved to be well funded and organized easily overpowering the MNLA and took control of the revolution; subsequently, they have pushed for a hard line Islamic state to replace Mali. Mali in conjunction with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convinced the UN Security Council to give military aid to the Malian government. As a result, French President Francois Hollande sent aircraft and ground troops to Mali. This foreign intrusion into the politics of the Sahel and Maghreb angered many of Africa’s radical groups including one called al-Mulatahemeen (masked brigade) which is a splinter group of AQIM.

Al-Mulatahemeen was formed by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who was in AQIM senior leadership, but Belmokhtar was viewed by Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, the leader of AQIM since 2004, as a threat to his own power and expelled from AQIM.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar was born in Algeria and trained in Jihad as part of the Mujahideen in the Afghanistan Civil War before he moved back to Algeria were he quickly proved to a talented and fearless terrorist as a part of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA), but as the GIA was slowing falling apart he became a member of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) which would eventually become AQIM. Belmokhtar grew in power becoming a senior commander in AQIM where he successfully partook in many high profile kidnappings. AQIM funds itself through ransom collected on those they kidnap. It is figured that they have made approximately 100 million dollar off their kidnappings making them al-Qaeda’s wealthiest branch.

Belmokhtar penchant for kidnapping did not end when his ties to AQIM did. Just recently al-Mulatahemeen showcased their abilities when they launched a raid on a gas facility in In Aménas, Algeria. The group managed to take over 800 people hostage although according to many sources the raid was actually a failure. According to these sources, they planned on intercepting a bus filled with foreign employees as it was on the way to the airport, but they were unable to complete this objective. Also, the hostages held at the Tigantourine facilities were supposed be transported to Northern Mali were they were going to be held captive. However, the Malian military acted fairly quickly and ferociously resulting in roughly the death of 40 hostages and 30 militants. The government has received some criticism from the international community for what has been viewed as a poorly executed and dangerous operation which could have been better executed if Algeria would have consulted other nations before acting.

Belmokhtar has stated that the objective of the kidnappings were to stop French involvement in the Malian Civil War and also some sources claim they demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui and Omar Abdel-Rahman both convicted terrorist serving lengthy sentences in US Prisons.

Although they were not successful in this mission; it is important to remember that these organizations are far from become inconsequential players in North Africa especially with the vast financial wealth AQIM has aculminated. It is likely that France and Mali will be victorious at regaining control of Mali and the state of Azwad. It just comes down to what will the long term destabilizing effects on the region will be.