Follower of Mohammed al Zawahiri dies in attack in Mali

By Thomas Joscelyn - May 10, 2013 - LWJ

Abu Obeida Sharif Khattab can be seen in the lower left foreground of this photo. Mohammed al Zawahiri is in the middle. To Zawahiri's left is Sheikh Adel Shehato.

Members of al Qaeda's Shumukh al Islam forum announced on May 4 that four Egyptian jihadists died in a "martyrdom-seeking" operation in Mali, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. One of the Egyptians, Abu Obeida Sharif Khattab, had previously appeared in videos with Mohammed al Zawahiri, the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.

The Shumukh al Islam forum participants apparently did not provide any details of the attack. The same day as their announcement, however, four terrorists were killed during an attack near Gao, which is where Khattab died. Two Malian soldiers were killed and several others were wounded.
The Malian army said that a suspicious individual riding a motorcycle was at first stopped. Three militants in a car then opened fire on the Malian soldiers, according to the Associated Press. "That was when the jihadist on the motorcycle set off the bomb that he was wearing," explained Lieutenant Colonel Souleymane Maiga, who heads public relations for the Malian army.

Sharif Khattab was a member of Shumukh al Islam who posted as "Abu Obeida al-Maghribi," according to his fellow forum members. Khattab had tried to join the jihad in the Sinai, Yemen, and Iraq, but was unsuccessful. One member of the forum said that Khattab did make his way to Libya after being released from prison. It is not clear why Khattab was imprisoned.

"After Allah graced him with coming out of the apostate prisons, and the market of jihad opened in Libya, he quickly went there, and Allah did not will that he complete his journey there," a forum member posted. "Then he returned with his determination higher and his longing for jihad increased, until Allah destined him to emigrate."

"After the French invasion of the new home of Islam in Azawad, our brother fought a fight deserving of praise from his brothers, until he was granted martyrdom," another forum member wrote, according to SITE's translation.

Read the full article at Long War Journal: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/05/follower_of_mohammed.php#ixzz2SssaQpQP

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• Follower of Mohammed al Zawahiri dies in attack in Mali (longwarjournal.org)

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Mali Islamists, Separatists Join Forces

An armed Islamist group occupying parts of northern Mali says it has joined forces with one of the country's main separatist movements.
Alghabasse Ag Intalla, head of the Islamic Movement for Azawad, told VOA correspondent Idriss Fall that the Islamist group has signed an agreement with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, or MNLA.

Intalla says the two groups will hold a congress in May to officially unify the movements.

The Islamic Movement of Azawad was formed recently by self-described "moderates" within the Ansar Dine rebel group.

Officials from the movement have said they are seeking autonomy for northern Mali, not independence.

Intalla, who was the former negotiator of Ansar Dine, says that although his group is currently fighting Islamists in the region, they will not help Malian forces in Kidal unless a political solution is found on the Tuareg situation.

Ansar Dine rebels joined with ethnic Tuaregs to seize control of northern Mali following the March 2012 coup.  Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups then took full control of the region, where they have moved to impose strict Islamic law.

In other developments, a Chadian soldier was killed Tuesday in fighting in the Ifoghas mountains in the country's north.  Nearly 30 Chadian soldiers have been killed in the operation so far.

from VOA News
March 13, 2013

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