Macina Liberation Front

Macina Liberation Front
Participant in Northern Mali conflict
Active January 2015[1]-Present
Ideology Salafist jihadism
Leaders Amadou Kouffa[2]
Area of operations  Mali
Part of Ansar Dine[3]
Allies Al-Mourabitoun
Battles and wars Northern Mali conflict

The Macina Liberation Front (MLF, French: Force de libération du Macina, also known as the Macina Liberation Movement[4] or Katibat Macina) is a militant Islamist group that operates in Mali.[5] It is an affiliate of Ansar Dine.[6]

Origins and membership

In March 2012, the President of Mali Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état over his handling of an insurgency in Northern Mali. As a consequence of the instability that followed, Mali's three largest northern cities—Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu—were overrun by a mixture of Islamists and Tuareg Nationalists. By July, the Tuareg were pushed out by their former allies, and the area became dominated by Jihadist groups: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).[7]

In January 2013, the Islamists captured the town of Konna in Central Mali, after fierce fighting with Malian forces. They were driven out by French forces days later,[8] the start of a French-led military intervention known as Operation Serval. However, some fighters were able to retreat to hideouts in the mountains or deserts and regroup.[9] Ethnic Fulani veterans of the conflict make up the core of the group. The Fulani are around 9 percent of Mali's population, but are locally dominant in the Mopti Region, which was the center of the 19th Century Fulani-led Islamic state of Macina.[5]

History

The Macina Liberation Front first came to prominence in January 2015, when it claimed responsibility for attacks in central and southern Mali. The group's leader is Amadou Kouffa, a Marabout who had acted as commander for the Islamist militants in the 2013 Battle of Konna.[2]

The group has been responsible for attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers, French troops and Malian government forces, as well as civilians.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Kathleen Caulderwood (9 May 2015). "Macina Liberation Movement: New Terror Group In Mali Threatens Peace Agreement". International Business Times. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The Sahel's Militant 'Melting Pot': Hamadou Kouffa's Macina Liberation Front (FLM)". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Le Front de libération du Macina menace la France et ses alliés dans une vidéo". Radio France Internationale. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Mali: Lawlessness, Abuses Imperil Population". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Mali's Islamist conflict spreads as new militant group emerges". Reuters. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Ansar Dine's branch in southern Mali releases first video". Long War Journal. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Nossiter, Adam (18 July 2012). "Jihadists' Fierce Justice Drives Thousands to Flee Mali". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Over 100 dead in French strikes and fighting in Mali". Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "France begins first stage of Mali military withdrawal". BBC. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
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