Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi

Lehbib Ould Ali Ould Said Ould Yumani, known as Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, is a Sahrawi Islamic militant and leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi
Image of Abu Walid taken from U.S. State Department
Birth nameLehbib Ould Ali Ould Said Ould Yumani
BornLaayoune, Western Sahara
AllegiancePolisario Front
MUJAO (2011–2013)
Al-Mourabitoun (2013–2015)
Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (2015–present)

History

al-Sahrawi was born in Laayoune, Western Sahara into a wealthy trading family that fled the city for refugee camps in Algeria.[1][2] He joined the Polisario Front and received military training, but demobilised amid promises of a United Nations referendum on the status of the Western Sahara.[2]

He studied social sciences at the Mentouri University of Constantine, from which he graduated in 1997. A year later he joined the Sahrawi Youth Union. From 2004 he is said to have suffered health problems and depression, turning to Islam after contact with students from the Ibn Abbas Institute in Noakchott.[3]

Around November 2010, he left Tindouf in Algeria for northern Mali and joined the Katiba Tarik ibn Zayd, a unit of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

In October 2011 he was part of the group that founded the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, alongside the Malians Ahmed al-Tilemsi and Sultan Ould Bady, as well as the Mauritanian Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou. While part of MUJWA/MUJAO, he was one of its most senior leaders, serving on its shura council and communicating with international media as MUJWA's spokesman.

By 2013, he was calling himself the leader of an organisation named the Mujahideen Shura Council in Gao, Mali. After MUJAO merged with Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen group in August 2013 to form Al-Mourabitoun, he was an important leader in Al-Murabitoun, later becoming its overall head.[4]

In March 2012, he was leading a group in control of the town of Askia.

On May 13, 2015, Abu Walid declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and formed Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. Not all of Murabitoun accepted the move, with Mokhtar Belmokhtar denying that al-Murabitoun had pledged to Baghdadi, causing a split in the group. More than a year and a half later the allegiance was publicly accepted by IS's Amaq news agency.[5]

In May 2016, he was reported to have issued threats against the Moroccan government.[6]

In June 2017, al-Sahrawi accused the Imghad and Idaksahak communities of defending Niger and France and threatened retaliation against them.[7] In October 2017, he led the Tongo Tongo ambush against Nigerien and US soldiers outside the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger.[8]

On 4 October 2019, the United States offered a $5 million reward under the Rewards for Justice program for information on his whereabouts.[9][10]

Personal life

He is said to have married a Fulani woman from the village of Bouratam in 2016.

References
  1. Dilanian, Ken; Kube, Courtney; Bishop, Mac William (24 October 2017). "U.S. Soldiers in Niger Were Pursuing ISIS Recruiter When Ambushed". NBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  2. Guichaoua, Yvan; Lebovich, Andrew (2 November 2017). "America's options in Niger: join forces to reduce tensions, or fan the flames". The Conversation. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  3. https://www.theafricareport.com/23345/tracking-abu-walid-al-sahrawi-west-africas-most-wanted-jihadist/
  4. "May 2015 Briefs". Jamestown. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. "Islamic State recognizes oath of allegiance from jihadists in Mali | FDD's Long War Journal". longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. "Report: Head of the Islamic State's Sahara branch threatens Morocco | FDD's Long War Journal". longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. "Jihadist leader Al-Sahraoui accuses and threatens two communities in Mali" (in French). RFI. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  8. Ahmed, Baba; Larson, Krista (19 October 2017). "Jihadist ambush on US forces shows new danger in Sahel region". Bamako: SFGate. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  9. "Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi". Rewards for Justice. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  10. "US offers reward for Islamic State leader linked to Niger ambush". Yahoo! News. 4 October 2019.
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