Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)

Aliases:

MOJWA; Mouvement Pour le Tawhid et du Jihad en Afrique de L’oust; Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa; Movement of Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA)[1]

History:

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) has origins dating back to October 2011, when Hamad al-Khairy and Ahmed el-Tilemsi founded it as an offshoot of al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM).[2] Both men had previously been affiliated with AQLIM, with Tilemsi aiding in the January 2011 kidnapping of two French nationals in Niger and Khairy assisting in the December 2008 abduction of Canadian Ambassador Robert Fowler in Niger.[3]

Since its founding, MUJAO has taken responsibility for the October 2011 kidnapping of European aid workers in Nigeria.[4] In June 2014, the United States responded to these actions, issuing two $5 million bounties for the captures of Khairy and Tilemsi,[5] though neither the United States nor any other country formally recognize MUJAO as a terrorist organization.[6] In 2012, MUJAO, along with AQLIM and Ansar al-Dine, took control of the Malian cities of Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal, although French and Malian soldiers reclaimed these territories by November 2013.[7] In August 2013, MUJAO merged with the Masked Men Brigade to form Al-Murabitoun,[8] which was designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey on June 19, 2014.[9]

Home Base:

Mali[10]

Founding Year:

2011[11]

Ideology:

Religious-Islamist-Salafist.[12]

Specific Goals:

Engage in and encourage jihad across West Africa.[13]

Political Activity:

None

Financing:

Kidnapping: Oumar Ould Hamaha, the MUJAO leader running security, has stated that a bulk of the organization’s financing stems from Western countries, ostensibly following kidnappings of their people.[14]

Funded by other violent group: MUJAO has received financial and material support from AQLIM.[15]

Leadership and Structure over Time:

According to the Malian army, MUJAO functions under a networked structure with sleeper cells.[16]

Founding leaders are Hamad al-Khairy and Ahmed el-Tilemsi, and Tilemsi also serves as a military leader of MUJAO, implying a chain of command within the leadership.[17]

2011-2013: Hamad al-Khairy cofounder and leader of the organization.[18]

2011-2013: Ahmed Ould Amer, aka Ahmed el-Tilemsi, cofounder and military leader.[19]

2012-2013: Oumar Ould Hamaha headed security operations for MUJAO.[20]

Strength:

January 2013: 300-400[21]

Allies and Suspected Allies:

Masked Men Brigade (allies):
MUJAO and Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s Masked Men Brigade carried out joint attacks in Mali in May 2013 and eventually merged into one group, called Al-Murabitoun, in August 2013.[22]
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

(AQIM) (allies):

The cofounders of MUJAO, Hamad al-Khairy and Ahmed el-Tilemsi, were both AQIM members before they split with the group, suggesting that the two groups may at least retain ties or remain allies.[23] The two groups fought as allies against the French intervention in Mali in 2013.[24]

Ansar Dine (allies):

Ansar Dine fought alongside MUJAO and AQIM against French forces intervening in Mali in 2013.[25]

Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) (suspected allies):

MUJAO fought alongside MNLA forces in 2013 during the crisis in Northern Mali, but the extent of their cooperation and its continuation is uncertain. MUJAO eventually broke relations with this group as they disagreed over the strict interpretation and implementation of Sharia law in captured territory.[26]

Boko Haram (allies)

Boko Haram militants collaborated with MUJAO, MNLA, and AQIM on attacks in Mali in 2012 and 2013.[27]


Rivals and Enemies:

Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) (rivals):
After briefly allying with this group in 2013, MUJAO broke relations with this group and began insisting upon strict interpretations of Sharia law in its territory, which is against the ideology of MNLA.[28]

Algeria (enemy):

Launched several terrorist attacks in Algeria in 2011, including the kidnapping of seven Algerian diplomats, and fought against the government forces of Algeria.[29]

Mali (enemy):

Fought against the government of Mali over territory in northern Mali in 2012 and 2013.[30]

France (enemy):

Fought against French forces in the 2013 French intervention in Mali.[31]

Counterterrorism Efforts:

International, Law Enforcement: In June 2014, the United states posted two $5 million bounties on Hamad al-Khairy and Ahmed el-Tilemsi, two founding leaders of MUJAO, following their implications in numerous kidnappings of foreigners and attacks on Western targets.[32]

International, Military:

France intervened in Mali in 2013, to assist the Malian government in regaining control of its northern territories from insurgents, including MUJAO.[33]

Domestic, Military:

The Malian military fought a long campaign against MUJAO and its allies in 2012 and 2013 to retake northern Mali, which included several battles for territory and towns such as Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, and was eventually aided by French intervention.[34]

United States Government Designations:
None.

Other Governments’ Designations:

None.

https://www.start.umd.edu/baad/narratives/movement-oneness-and-jihad-west-africa-mujao

Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram

This report addresses the regional ramifications of the rise of Boko Haram and evaluates the jihadist terrorist organization as something more than a domestic Nigerian movement. The report discusses Boko Haram’s regional connections and the possibility of it expanding throughout West Africa.


The architecture for Boko Haram to become an al Qaeda wing in West Africa or part of a regional terrorist movement may already be in place. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) shares the same goal as Boko Haram and is also dominated by Hausa speaking members. Armed with weapons from Libya’s caches and possessing operational ties to an Algerian-based al Qaeda faction, MOJWA may be the link between Boko Haram in Nigeria and a broader Boko Haram regional movement.

The expansion of these terrorists in West Africa, and the possibility of Boko Haram franchising, could present a future threat to Western business interests in the area and undermine the region’s fledgling democracies.

https://www.brookings.edu/book/northern-nigerias-boko-haram/

Movement For Oneness And Jihad In West Africa (MOJWA)

Alternative Names:

MOJWA, Mouvement pour l’unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest, MUJAO, Jamat Tawhid wal Jihad fi Garbi Afriqqiya and Jamaat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Ifriqiya, Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad in West Africa.

Location:

Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania

Leadership:

The group’s leader was believed to be Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou. Other prominent members included Algerian Ahmed Al-Talmasi, Malian Sultan Ould Badi. Omar Ould Hamaha was MOJWA’s military commander before being killed by French security forces in March 2014.

Membership:

Membership consisted of fighters who broke off from AQIM in 2011. The group was made up of mostly Tuaregs, Mauritanian and Malian Arabs, as well as sympathizers from Nigeria and other Sahelian countries.

Funding Sources:

MOJWA was believed to be largely funded through its criminal activities. The group has been very active in kidnapping and ransom of foreigners, as well as heavily involved in smuggling.

Origins

MOJWA was a splinter group of Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that believed in spreading jihad to regions that AQIM had previously left untouched. Specifically, they wanted to reach into West Africa and spread jihad in order to form a strict Sharia state.

The group emerged for the first time in 2011, after it claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of three European aid workers in Algeria.

In 2013, the French-led intervention in Mali led to the majority of MOJWA’s operations focusing on French and African forces in the region. On May 23, 2013, the MOJWA and al’Muwaqi’un Bil-Dima launched twin suicide attacks against a Nigerien army base and a French uranium mine in Niger, killing 25 people.

Since then, the group has merged with Al Moulathamoun to form a new organization known as Al-Mourabitoun, and is said to continue its close ties to Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Major Attacks:

October 2011: Kidnapped aid workers from a refugee camp in Algeria

May 23, 2013: Launched an attack against the Nigerian Army base and a French Uranium mine. (25 killed)

February 7, 2014: Attacked ethnic Tuaregs near the town of Tamkoutat in northern Mali. (31 killed)

February 11, 2014: Kidnapped team of Red Cross Workers.

Ideological Roots:

The group follows the ideological roots of Al Qaida and other Islamist Jihadist traditions.

Objectives:

MOJWA wants to establish an Islamic state that follows Sharia law across west Africa.

Tactics:

Very little is known about the group except that it seemed to be heavily funded by drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom.

Terrorist activities included kidnappings, small arms attacks, IED attacks, and suicide bombings.

https://mackenzieinstitute.com/2016/01/movement-for-oneness-and-jihad-in-west-africa-mojwa/

MOJWA released a video that referenced their ideological affinity for such figures as Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but placed greater emphasis on historical figures of West African origin, claiming to be the "ideological descendants" of Cheikhou Amadou, Usman Dan Fodio and El Hadj Umar Tall. "Today we are inaugurating jihad in West Africa" claimed one of the militants, who spoke in English and Hausa.[7] Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania had been present for at least a decade prior to the group's founding and escalated further following the 2011 Libyan civil war and the influx of weapons in the desert area.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hadj_Umar_Tall

MetaPhysical:
PaChuckwudi, Thanks for bringing this information here.

I usually do not ask for articles to be posted on front page, not even mine, but Im going to ask for this to be pushed up to the main page and pinned to top in fact.

Obasanjo wasted a lot of opportunities for Yoruba, and for Southerners generally. Im not going to use this thread to bash him but must mention that he was very naive and the outcome of his naivety is part of what we see on ground today. Obasanjo had military leadership, in the African context of a soldier, but his lack of political sagacity was exploited by Northerners to further enshrined their interests in top priority even above Sovereign priorities. So I am dumbfounded that Obasanjo who impulsively surrendered our rights to North is now the same person raising alarm of Northern's push to islamize all. Very surprising.