Islamic State – Sahel Province
Logo of The Sahil Province
Leaders	Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi † Abdulaziz Mahwaz Al-Jamal
Dates of operation	13 May 2015–present
Headquarters	Near Ménaka, Gao Region, Mali
Active regions	Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso
Ideology	Salafi jihadism
Size	1,400[1]
Part of	Islamic State
Designated as a terrorist group by	See below

The Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui,^[2] to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP);^[3] when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara".^[4] In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province ^[5] and naming it Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).

History

Al-Mourabitoun was created on 22 August 2013 after the merging of MUJAO and Al-Mulathameen.^[6] On 13 May 2015, elements of Al-Mourabitoun under the leadership of Abu Walid al-Sahraoui pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.^{[7][8][9][10]} It operated independently until 30 October 2016, when it was formally recognized by the Islamic State.^{[11][12][13][14]}

The group's ranks increased by dozens of Malian militants and sympathizers from the Gao Region^[15] near Ménaka.^[16]

On November 28, 2019, Spanish authorities issued a warning on the possibility of a terror attack in the region against Spanish citizens visiting or working in the Saharawi refugee camps in Western Sahara.^[17]

Spanish authorities feared the attacks would coincide with the Spanish Día de la Constitución (December 6) celebrations.^[18] Secret services warned of the risk of a jihadist attack in the Sahara region at refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.^[19] The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic denied this threat.^[20] No attack happened.

During 2021, the group carried out massacres in Niger, mainly in the regions of Tillabéri and Tahoua, killing more than 600 people.^[21]

In December 2021, the French Army announced that it had killed in Niger, one of the perpetrators of the assassination of six French humanitarian workers and their Nigerien companions in the Kouré reserve in August 2020. The man is presented as Soumana Boura. The staff had identified him as leading a group of several dozen EIGS fighters, in the Gober Gourou and Firo area, in western Niger. a member of the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara (EIGS).^[22]

On 15 June 2022, it was announced the French military force captured Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a senior ISGS leader in Mali overnight between 11-12 June.^[23]

Between 2022 and 2023, the group saw major gains in the Mali War, occupying large swarths of territory in southeastern Mali. Tidermène was captured by the group on 12 April 2023.^[24]

Organization, forces and location

Analysis

Designation as a terrorist organization

Country	Date	References
United States	23 May 2018	[26]
United Nations	23 February 2020	[27]
Argentina	23 February 2020	[28]
New Zealand	23 February 2020	[29]
Canada	2 February 2021	[30]
Iraq	?	[31]

See also

• Tongo Tongo ambush

References

Further reading

• Warner, Jason (2017). "Sub-Saharan Africa's Three "New" Islamic State Affiliates" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 10 (1): 28–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2017-02-11.