Al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) is an Islamist militant group based in Algeria, currently under the leadership of Abdelmalek Droukdel.[1] The group mainly operates in the Sahel-Saharan region of Africa.[2] AQLIM has its roots in the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC),[3] which originated as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in 1998 during the civil violence in Algeria.[4] In 2000, GSPC publicly announced it was opposed to GIA’s violence against civilians, claiming it harmed the general population,[5],[6] which gained the group some local popularity.[7] This lasted until early 2001, when GSPC returned to indiscriminate violence.[8] Over time, the group shifted focus from toppling Algeria's secular government to global jihad, officially aligning with al-Qa’ida in 2006 and renaming itself al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb in early 2007.[9],[10]

In 2007, AQLIM claimed responsibility for the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Algiers.[11] AQLIM conducted numerous kidnappings for ransom and a series of bombings targeting police, citizens, and the military in Algeria and surrounding regions.[12] In 2012, an intensified counterterrorism campaign by the Algerian government forced the group to reduce its bombing attacks and focus primarily on obtaining funding through smuggling and kidnappings.[13] At this time, AQLIM also moved to surrounding regions, specifically Niger and Mali.[14] AQLIM has been tied to other Islamist groups: Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).[15] These groups took advantage of secular unrest in Mali to seize major parts of northern and central Mali during 2012 and 2013,[16] though they were largely pushed from populated areas by French intervention in February 2013.[17]

Internal differences within AQLIM have spawned multiple jihadist groups throughout the region. MUJAO was created in October 2011 as a Malian faction.[18] In December 2012, AQLIM military commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar announced the formation of “The Signers in Blood” Battalion.[19] In September 2014, several leaders of AQLIM broke off from AQLIM to form a new militant group known as “The Caliphate Soldiers” which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS).[20] View full narrative