Abd al-Rahman Talha al-Libi: First Mauritanian to lead Sahara Emirate

Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) announced on Friday, July 17 that the Shura Council of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) chose Talha al-Libi as the leader of the Sahara Emirate, succeeding Abu Yahya al-Jazairi, who was killed by Malian army forces during a battle in Bamba in February.

Abu Yahya al-Jazairi had been appointed commander of the Sahara Emirate immediately after the killing of Yahya Abu al-Hammam.

Who is al-Libi?

Abd al-Rahman Talha, known as Talha al-Libi, was born to a Malian mother and Mauritanian father. He is the first Mauritanian to be appointed emir over the Sahara Emirate, which is an important area of al-Qaeda influence. He had been the leader of Katibat al-Furqan, which is active along the border between Mali and Mauritania and affiliated with al-Qaeda under the banner of Talha ibn Ziyad. Previously, only Algerians had been in charge of the emirate since its inception in the late 1990s, which has caused conflicts between the Algerian, Mauritanian and Malian militants.

In recent years, armed terrorist groups in the Sahara have changed their strategy, deciding to merge into JNIM. They also formed new brigades, most notably Katibat al-Furqan led by Talha al-Libi, and they launched the largest attack on United Nations forces in Timbuktu, Mali.

The group is extremely dangerous in Africa’s Sahel and Sahara region, where it has killed hundreds of civilians and injured many more in northern Mali.

The emirate’s former commander, Abu Yahya al-Jazairi, had assumed leadership after the killing of Algerian Yahya Abu al-Hammam, a leading member of the Ansar ul-Islam group, which was formed in March 2018 by the leader of Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghali. The Sahara Emirate began following Ghali after the death of the emirate's founder, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who was likely killed in Libya prior to 2018.

AQIM recently suffered severe blows with the loss of four of its most prominent leaders: Abu Yahya al-Jazairi, Yahya Abu al-Hammam, Mukhtar Belmokhtar, and its first leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel.

The organization acknowledged this, and the Al-Andalus Foundation, the media arm of Al-Qaeda, published an audio recording of one of the organization’s media officials, who presented himself as Abu Abdul Ilah Ahmed, in which he confirmed Droukdel's death and vowed to continue fighting the French forces and the Malian army.

AQIM has not announced the name of the new leader who will succeed Droukdel, but information points to its intention to pledge allegiance to Mubarak Yazid, known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf al-Annabi, who is one of the oldest and most senior leaders of the terrorist organization. He has been involved in armed action since 1996, and he was member of the organization’s legislative council when it was called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat before 2007.