JNIM, or Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, was officially formed in March 2017 as a coalition of several jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region of West Africa, particularly Mali. This coalition was primarily composed of three groups: Ansar Dine, al-Mourabitoun, and the Macina Liberation Front. The formation of JNIM was largely influenced by the need for a unified front against regional governments and foreign forces, as well as a response to the growing instability in the region following the 2012 Malian coup d’état and subsequent insurgency.
JNIM is affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and its leadership has pledged allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the then-leader of Al-Qaeda. The group aims to establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law across the Sahel region and has positioned itself against Western influence and local governments that it views as illegitimate or corrupt.
In recent years JNIM has faced pressure form both Russian Wagner Mercenaries and their Jihadis rivals of ISIS in the Sahel. The latter of which has exerted significant pressure over the last few years and resulted in significant loss of territory and personnel for JNIM.
The below document showcases JINM’s continued attempts to stay relevant on the international stage. Though could also be seen as an overt reminder to the HTS leadership to not forget their roots and historical allegiances to the AL-Qaeda leadership. They offer broad praise for the Syrian Mujahideen and express congratulations on their military victory over the Criminal Assad. More crucially however they place emphasis on the fact that Syria is now an “Islamic State” and will strive to build a “Sunni” entity. So despite HTS claims that the Syria that will emerge from Assad’s fall will be a pluralistic one, at least in the minds of JNIM and AQ leadership a Sunni controlled Islamic Nation is the future that Syria should adopt. How this will play out and external Jihadist forces play a future role of the development of Syria’s future state building? We will see…
"In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The Al-Qaeda Organization for Jihad in the Countries of the Islamic Maghreb The Group for the Support of Islam The Muslims and the glory of the East is its beginning Damascus Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, the supporter of the oppressed and the comforter of the believers, who says in His final judgment (Indeed, victory will come, our Lord, and those who believe in the life of this world and the Day of The witnesses stand up) (Ghafir (5), and prayers and peace be upon the Imam of the Mujahideen and the leader of the conquerors, who said: “They will reach this matter as far as night and day have reached, and God will not leave a house of mud or fur except that God will admit it to this religion, by the glory of the mighty or by the humiliation of the humble, a glory by which Islam is glorified.” And its people, and a humiliation by which polytheism and its people are humiliated.” As for what follows: We congratulate the Islamic nation in general, and our brothers in the beloved Levant in particular, for this conquest. This is the great and mighty victory that God bestowed upon us and upon them in these blessed days. We thank God for completing His blessing upon them, and for spreading His grace, mercy, and tranquility upon His mujahideen servants from the soldiers of the Blessed Levant, by deterring their ordinary forces, the Nusayri regime and its cronies, and their conquest of Damascus of the Levant, Homs, Ibn al-Walid, Hamat al-Alam, Aleppo, al-Shahba, and Daraa. The source of the uprising and jihad is from the abomination of the tyrant, the son of the tyrant, and his thugs, and from their liberation For thousands of male and female prisoners from the darkness of the basements and corridors of “Al-Assad’s” prisons, and to free them from the tragedies and atrocities they experienced over the course of decades. The regime fell and the tyrant of the Levant fled, cutting off the backs of the people who had wronged. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (Al-An’am: 45) And we, as we congratulate the Islamic nation in general, and the Mujahideen. The Levant and their supporters in particular are turning a black page in the history of Syria and the Levant It was taken over by a hateful, criminal, Nusayri regime. And the beginning of a bright new era, God willing, in which the glory of Islam and the empowerment of the entity of the Sunnis in the lands of the Levant, we call on the scholars of the Levant, the leaders of jihad there, the sheikhs, the wise, and those with experience and expertise to reject all previous differences, and to unite and stand as one to build a new entity whose reference is Islam as a doctrine, law, and method of life, and whose role model is the Messenger. God, may God bless him and grant him peace, is Hanafi, upright, and moderate guidance that stands between (Do not obey us or else They are committed to ensuring the renaissance of this entity and protecting it from the machinations of the plotters, in order to achieve the fruits of jihad and victory. We also call on them to work to reduce and reduce the enemies, to distance themselves from side battles, to avoid sub-conflicts that may delay reaping the fruit, and to strive to build a Sunni entity based on the rule of Sharia and to spread justice and security among all sects. Syrian society with its various components and sects.
Jumada al-Akhirah 1, 1446 AH,