Baba Ould Cheikh | |
---|---|
Born | ~1965 |
Nationality | Malian |
Occupation | Drug trafficker |
Known for | Air Cocaine scandal, ties to jihadist groups |
Children | Mimi Ould Baba |
Baba Ould Cheikh is a Lemhar Arab Malian drug trafficker with close ties to jihadist groups.
Cheikh was born around 1965. Little is known about his early life. [1] During his time as the mayor of Tarkint, Cheikh managed two construction companies in Gao in the early 2000s. [2] His fleet of trucks illegally imported consumer products from Algeria along with cocaine. [2] Cheikh was at the forefront of the "Air Cocaine" scandal in 2009. [3] He was also in close contact with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in particular regarding negotiations for European hostages kidnapped in Algeria in 2003, and later on the kidnapping of Robert Fowler. [4] In negotiations for Fowler, Cheikh put special advisor to the Burkinabe president Moustapha Ould Limam Chafi in contact with AQIM emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar. [4] Cheikh was also suspected of having links to Fowler's kidnappers. [5]
On February 3, 2013, a few days after Malian forces recaptured Gao from jihadists, Cheikh was violent attacked by a group of young men who had seen him at the bus station with armed men. Cheikh, who had impunity in Gao for years prior, was arrested by Malian troops with Cheikh's friend and mayor of Gao Sadou Harouna Diallo not intervening in his arrest. [5] A warrant was issued for Cheikh's arrest, and he was arrested on April 10 for drug trafficking. [5] [6]
Cheikh was arrested again on January 21, 2018, by unknown armed men, but he was released that February. [7]
Cheikh is the father of Mimi Ould Baba, who was arrested in Mali in January 2017 and accused of being a key figure behind the 2016 Ouagadougou attacks, which left thirty people dead at the request of Abu Hassan al-Ansari. Baba also was a mastermind behind the Grand-Bassam shootings in Côte d'Ivoire. He was charged for the murder of a US citizen in 2020. [8]
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa or the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, was a militant Islamist organisation that broke off from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb with the intended goal of spreading jihad across a larger section of West Africa, as well as demanding the expulsion of all French interests that operate in West Africa, which they regard as "colonialist occupiers".
Omar Ould Hamaha was an Islamist militia commander from Northern Mali. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict he became known alternatively as the spokesman and chief of staff for both Ansar Dine and Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), militant groups associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Ahmed al-Tilemsi, nom de guerre of Abderrahmane Ould El Amar was a Malian jihadist leader and drug trafficker who served as a founding member and senior figure of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and a senior figure and alleged emir of al-Mourabitoun.
An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.
El Hadj Ag Gamou, born December 31, 1964, in Tidermène, Mali, is an Imghad Tuareg Malian division general. Gamou is currently the governor of Kidal Region since November 22, 2023, and has also been the head of his faction of Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies since the group's foundation. Prior to his governorship, Gamou served in the Malian army, commanding Malian troops against Ansar Dine and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in the early stages of the Mali War.
Nabil Makhloufi, nom de guerre Nabil Abou Alqama, was an Algerian jihadist who fought in the Algerian Civil War and the Mali War, and served as the head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)'s Sahara region between 2011 and 2012.
Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou nom de guerre Abu Qum-Qum was a Mauritanian jihadist and the founder of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO/MOJWA).
On June 27, 2015, Katiba Macina militants attacked the Malian military base in Nara, Mali, and briefly captured the town. The attack was repelled by Malian forces.
Mahri Sidi Amar Ben Daha, nom de guerre Yoro Ould Daha, was a Malian Arab warlord who fought in Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) and the Arab Movement of Azawad's pro-government faction.
Abdou Aïssa, nom de guerre Sultan Ould Bady, is a Malian jihadist and drug trafficker. He co-founded the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) with Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou and Ahmed al-Tilemsi, and founded Katibat Salahadin, a katiba within MOJWA that later reformed in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara after Bady defected.
Mohamed Lemine Ould El Hassen, nom de guerre Abdallah al-Chinguetti, was a Mauritanian jihadist and commander of Katiba Al Furqan of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Mohamed Abderrahmane Ould Meydou, also known as Ould Meydou, is a Malian general who participated in the Tuareg rebellion of 2007 to 2009 and the Mali War. Meydou has also served as the governor of Taoudénit Region since 2017.
Abderrahmane Talha, also known as Abou Talha al-Mauritani or Talha al-Libyy, is a Mauritanian jihadist who is the wali of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin's territory in Tombouctou Region.
Hamada Ag Hama, also known as Abdelkrim Taleb or Abdelkrim al-Targui was a Malian jihadist and emir of Katiba Al Ansar, a brigade in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The Tilemsi Arabs or Arabs of Gao, include Arabic-speaking populations in the northeastern region of the Niger Bend, near Gao. They are distinct from the other large group of Arabic speakers in Mali, the Bérabich, who are generally more educated and hold more pro-government views. The Lemhar Arabs are the largest tribe within Tilemsi Arabs, and are used as a catch-all term for the group. There are other Tilemsi Arab tribes, such as the Mechdouf. Both the Mechdouf and Lemhar have been in conflict since 2007, and both engage prominently in drug trafficking and ethnic militant groups in the Mali War.
Didier Dacko is a Malian general who commanded Malian forces during the early stages of the Mali War, and reversed the gains made by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and jihadist groups in 2013.
The Battle of Areich Hind, also known as the Battle of Raz el-Ma, took place between September 17 and 19, 2010, during the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. Mauritanian forces launched an offensive against a group of AQIM jihadists in Malian territory on September 17.
On July 22, 2010, French and Mauritanian forces launched a raid on an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) base in Tombouctou Region, Mali, in an attempt to rescue French hostage Michel Germaneau. The forces were able to destroy the base, but Germaneau was not rescued and later executed by AQIM.
On July 4, 2009, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Malian forces near Araouane, Mali.
On June 16, 2009, Malian forces clashed with jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Garn-Akassa, Kidal Region, Mali.