Speaking to “Sky News Arabia”, a source in the Azawad region, where the two groups are active, explains the tribes’ support for the al-Qaeda-affiliated group as “aimed for media consumption, as well as mobilizing supporters of the Al-Nusra Group in confrontations with ISIS.”
The source also pointed out that the personalities who appeared in the pledge of allegiance are outside the law, and “practice bullying, theft and looting against their people, and they are expelled from the tribe,” not from tribal notables, as al-Nusra claims.
According to the video, the pledge of allegiance took place in the presence of the representative of the “Nasrat al-Islam and Muslims” group in an area located on the Mali border with Niger.
Menaka.. the source of funding
The Menaka region is a strategic target for JNIM and the “ISIS” organization in Mali, and a place of fierce competition between them, given its location between Mali and Niger and its proximity to Algeria, which enables terrorist groups to control smuggling routes, their most prominent sources of funding, according to a professor of political science at the University of Bamako. Mohamed Ag Ismail.
The smuggling activities include militants, weapons, drugs, fuel and illegal immigrants.
Bekai Ag Hamad, a founding member of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, agrees that Menaka has turned into a point of conflict between al-Nusra and ISIS, because it also contains precious raw materials and is rich in gold.
The conflict affects the residents of the region, against whom ISIS (comprised of foreigners) commits massacres to spread terror and facilitate its seizure of their lands and livestock, and the settlement of its elements in their place, according to Bakai.
The most prominent battles of the competitors
• Fierce battles took place between the Al-Nusra and “ISIS” groups between last May and October, with the aim of controlling Menaka.
• Clashes took place in the areas of Aghzaraghan, Adrannokar, Tamalt and Insanan, Menaka.
• The months of May and September witnessed violent clashes between the two sides, which ended with the strengthening of the presence of “ISIS” in the state.
• In October, the town of Azraghan, in the area under the influence of “ISIS”, witnessed fierce battles, which caused heavy losses among the ranks of the Al-Nusra Group.
• The Insanan region also witnessed violent clashes, which ended with the withdrawal of “ISIS” from the region, and the entry of members of the Al-Nusra Group into the Azanbukar region, which has been under the control of “ISIS” since March.
areas of influence and spread
ISIS is present strongly in the three borders between Azawad, northern Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
In the state of Menaka specifically, the terrorist organization intensified its attacks against the civilian population more than ever before, killing more than a thousand civilians and dozens of soldiers from the Platform movement (Azawadian group).
As for the Al-Nusra Group, which relies on recruiting locals, it spreads on the border strip with Algeria, Mauritania and the Massina region, and aims to expel “ISIS” from Mali and keep the northern regions of the country under its control.
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