ISIS and al-Qaeda battle for terrorist control in Mauritania

Ayah Ezz

Bloody clashes were witnessed on Thursday, March 12 between ISIS elements and the Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) group that is affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The clashes occurred near the border between Mauritania and Mali, according to the Mauritanian news website Sahara Media.

The Mauritanian website pointed out that the clashes took place specifically between ISIS and the wing of Amadou Koufa, a dangerous African terrorist who had been killed in November 2018, which is affiliated with JNIM.

Sahara Media confirmed that these clashes erupted after the failure of negotiations between ISIS and al-Qaeda due to major differences between them over this area, which led to elements of each group being detained by the other.

ISIS onslaught

According to Sahara Media and the Mogadishu Center for Political and Strategic Studies, the area contested between ISIS and al-Qaeda was under the influence of the Macina Liberation Front, which was led by Koufa. However, ISIS elements, led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui, recently entered the area, which caused the differences between the groups to begin.

The Mogadishu Center had indicated in a previous report that ISIS was launching attacks from time to time against the Koufa wing in February 2020 9 so as to provoke al-Qaeda.

Longing for Mauritania

In July 2015, ISIS began directing its attention to Mauritania, although it has not yet been able to form a terrorist cell there due to the control of security. But the organization aspires for Mauritania to be part of its triangle of terrorism in Africa, and it has recently found opportunities to enter the country.

ISIS’s ambitions in Mauritania have been reinforced for multiple reasons, the most important of which is that Mauritania has a major Islamist movement and an extremist environment that encourages terrorism and jihad against foreign military bases, whether in their country or neighboring countries. These groups belong to the Tablighi Jamaat, which was characterized with a Sufi nature at first until it turned into a group supporting al-Qaeda and calling for jihad.

Another reason is that religious discourse in Mauritania is characterized by extremism and has been embraced by a group of the Salafist groups that control the mosques there. Militants call on young people to carry out attacks against foreign military bases, according to a report prepared by the African Research Center on the security situation in Mauritania.

This provides an opportunity for ISIS to penetrate Mauritania, but the terrorist organization’s ambitions have collided with the government’s tightening wall of security.

Imposing control

Abdul Khabir Atallah, a professor of political science, told the Reference that although Mauritania does have some problems related to terrorism, it is the only African country that has been able to develop a good strategic plan to combat terrorism, which has thwarted many ISIS attempts in the country.

Atallah assured that ISIS’s struggle with al-Qaeda in the border area will also fail, because al-Qaeda has controlled this area for a long time. Also, the armed tribes in that region will not leave their land easily.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Ezz El-Din, a researcher specializing in African affairs, said that ISIS began fighting for this region more than two years ago, after it retreated from Syria and Iraq, especially as it wants to impose control on most of the disputed areas in Africa.

Ezz El-Din stressed in exclusive statements to the Reference that ISIS has been able to strengthen its presence in Africa’s Sahel and Sahara region, where it seeks to take control of the area from al-Qaeda by any means in order for the region to fall under its terrorist jurisdiction.