Mali: National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) and Ansar Dine declared the Islamic Republic of Azawad
The two rebel groups that seized control of the northern half of Mali announced Saturday that they have agreed to fuse their movements and work together to create an independent Islamic state on the territory they occupy, a signatory to the agreement said.
Alghabass Ag Intalla, one of the leaders of Ansar Dine, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, confirmed that his movement was joining with the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, a secular rebel group led by Tuareg separatists. They signed the agreement in the northern town of Gao on Saturday evening, and celebratory gunfire rang out in both Gao and Timbuktu, another town under their control, as fighters heard the news.
“I have just signed an accord that will see an independent and Islamic state where we have Islamic law,” Ag Intalla said.
It’s one more worrying development for Mali, because Ansar Dine is known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa, which is responsible for dozens of suicide attacks as well as the kidnappings of foreigners, some of whom were later executed.
