Haroun Ag Said | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Abou Jemal |
| Died | April 29, 2014 Borisa, Kidal Region, Mali |
| Allegiance |  Mali (1997-2006)ADC (2006)  Ansar Dine (2012-2014) |
| Rank | Lieutenant-colonel (Mali) Emir (Ansar Dine) |
| Battles/wars | Tuareg rebellion (1990-1996) Tuareg rebellion (2006) Mali War |
Haroun Ag Said, nom de guerre Abou Jamal, was a Malian Tuareg rebel and commander, and a close confidant of Iyad Ag Ghaly.
Little is known about Said's early life. Said took part in the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, where he was seriously injured in the throat. [1] Following the peace agreements that concluded the rebellion, he joined the Malian Army. [1] He served for seven years as a second lieutenant in the Léré garrison and was company commander in Diabaly for a time. [2] [1] During this time, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. [3]
Said deserted from the army in 2006 to join the May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change (ADC) and fought under Iyad Ag Ghaly. He disarmed following the Algiers Accords. [1] In May 2008, he led fifty men in an attack on the garrison in Diabaly, killing one Malian soldier. [2] He rejoined Iyad Ag Ghaly in Ansar Dine when the Mali War broke out in 2012, and was said to be his right-hand man and a senior figure in the movement. [3] In January 2013, he commanded jihadist forces at the Battle of Diabaly. While he captured the city, he was forced to flee due to French intervention. [2]
Said was killed on April 29, 2014, by French special forces in Borisa, Kidal Region. According to MINUSMA, he and two other fighters were killed in a vehicle. [3] A French army spokesman, without naming Said, stated a militant "died with weapons in his hands", and claimed two other combatants surrendered to French forces. [1]
The May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change is a Malian Tuareg rebel group, formed in 2006 by ex-combatants from the 1990s Tuareg insurgency in Mali. In 2007, splinters of the organisation returned to combat in northern Mali, launching the Malian element of the 2007 Tuareg insurgency. Led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, this ADC faction continued to operate under that name, despite most elements remaining under ceasefire. In July 2008, most of these elements, along with much of the splinter following Ag Bahanga reached another accord with the Malian government in Algiers. Ag Bahanga and a faction of that group rejected the accord and fled to Libya. At the end of 2008, this faction returned to fighting, operating under the name Alliance Touaregue Nord Mali Pour Le Changement (ATNMC). The government of Mali has contended since 2007 that the Ag Bahanga faction of the ADC is a "band of marginals" who were "isolated from the heart of the Tuareg community", primarily motivated by lucrative Trans-Saharan smuggling operations operating from Ag Bahanga's home town of Tin-Zaouatene. Ag Bahanga and the other leaders of his faction contend that the government of Mali oppresses the Tuareg population of the north, and has repeatedly failed to live up to its agreements with the ADC and other groups. Outside observers have also speculated that internal rivalries between Tuareg from the Kel Adagh and the Ouilliminden confederations have frustrated peace attempts.
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