Al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali gains ground
Cell phone footage released by an Insurgent fighter with Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb shows a military installation in Mali being overwhelmed by an insurgent force mounted on motorcycles. For those of you who are out of the loop with this on-going conflict, Al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is an Islamist militant organization and an affiliate of al-Qaeda, operating primarily in North and West Africa. It aims to overthrow the Algerian government and establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law. They primarily operate in Algeria, Mali, Niger, Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia, and parts of the Sahel, with recent expansion into Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and other West African states. They are estimated to have a strength between 600 and 1000 fighters currently, and are led by Abdelmalek Droukdel. AQIM draws members from Algerian, Saharan (Tuareg, Berabiche), and Moroccan communities and often collaborate with groups like Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM, its Sahel branch), Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, Ansar al-Dine, and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa.
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