Former Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar (aka "Laaouar") quit the group in 2012 to assemble his own band of suicide bombers in northern Mali. The new terrorist group--Signers in Blood--"is headquartered in the Malian city of Gao, which is under the control of Islamists from the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), an offshoot of AQIM. Belmokhtar wants "to help to consolidate Sharia rule in northern Mali, where armed Islamists are enforcing Islamic law very strictly. Belmokhtar founded and is the leader of three groups that are closely aligned: Signers in Blood, Masked Brigade, and the Tuareg Brigade Mali. 2013 MUJAO and The Masked Batalion announced a merger of their groups renaming themselves The Mourabitounes (also known as al-Murabitun, The Sentinels, Al-Murābiṭūn, The Almoravids). The merger is only partialy complete because it was not signed by some other groups including 'Signers in Blood'…
Signers in Blood Battalion
Associated Groups
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al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) - (Salafist Group for Preaching and Fighting (see separate entry)
RIVAL FACTION; al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) - (Salafist Group for Preaching and Fighting (see separate entry) is also known as Al-Qaida Committee in the Islamic Maghreb, Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Qa’eda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), al Qaeda fo Bilad al Maghrib al Islami, Belmokhtar Group (BG), Tanzim al-Qaeda bi Balad al Maghrib al Islami (AQIM), AQLIM, AQIM. -
Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)
ALLY (SUSPECTED); Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) is also known as MOJWA -- Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, MUJWA. -
Mourabitounes / Al Qaeda in West Africa
FACTION; Mourabitounes / Al Qaeda in West Africa is also known as al-Murabitun, The Sentinels, Al-Murābiṭūn, The Almoravids, al-Murabitoon. -
Katibat al-Mulathamin
SHARED MEMBERS; Katibat al-Mulathamin is also known as Brigade of the Wearers of the Veil, Masked Battalion, Al-Mulathamin Brigade.
Associated Articles
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Belmokhtar’s Lastest Bayat is a Statement of the Power shift within Al Qaeda Central from sympathy for the Islamic State (ISIS) to Nusra Front and al-Zawahiri
Back DropAlgerian jihadist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar (Khalid Abu Al-Abbas) is the face of terrorism in North Africa. He has earned an impressive track record, not only as a veteran jihadist in... -
The Forgotten Three: The Fate of AQIM Timbuktu Hostages and Their Captor Belkacem Zouadi
02 December 2015Videos (above): Left Johan Gustafsson; Right Stephen McGown "Proof of Life Videos" released by AQIM. For More on South Africa: GIFT OF THE GIVERS RECEIVES PROOF OF... -
Reorganization of Jihadist Groups in Maghreb and Sahel
Islamic State Reaches Much Farther Than SyriaThe Declaration of the Caliphate by Islamic State (ISIS) raises growing concerns about jihadist expansion all over the world, but especially in the... -
AQIM's Djamel Okacha, a.k.a Yahya Abu al-Hamman, successor to Abu Zeid
On 24 March 2013, a day after the French government confirmed the death of Abu Zeid, the veteran fighter and leader of the Tariq Ibn Zyad brigade, security sources in Algeria leaked to Ennahar TV...
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