Al-Qaeda's New West African Map (PDF)

On March 27, 2012, the Touareg separatist organization MNLA (Mouvement National pour la Libération de l'Azaouad) signed an agreement with the al-Qa‘ida affiliated militant organization Ançar Dine to administer the territory under their joint control as an Islamist state. In mid-January 2012, the nationalist MNLA began a military campaign to create an independent Touareg state called Azawad from the three northern Touareg regions of Mali – Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu, a vast desert and semi-desert area constituting approximately 66% of Malian territory. The newly proclaimed Islamic Republic of Azawad presents al-Qa’ida with increased potential for linking North Africa’s Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) with the al-Qa’ida affiliated Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. Even if the agreement between the MNLA and Ançar Dine should collapse in the face of opposition from the more secular, nationalist faction within the MNLA, Ançar Dine may develop a decisive advantage over the MNLA through its working alliance with AQIM and Boko Haram.