Al-Qaeda-linked group in northern Mali attacks tombs of Sufi saints just days after sites put on UNESCO endangered list.
A hardline religious group occupying northern Mali has destroyed 15th-century mausoleums of Sufi Muslim saints in Timbuktu and have threatened to demolish the remaining 13 UNESCO world heritage sites in the fabled city, witnesses have said.
The attack by Ansar Dine group on Friday came just four days after UNESCO placed Timbuktu on its list of heritage sites in danger after the seizure of its northern two-thirds in April by rebels.
"They have already completely destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud (Ben Amar) and two others. They said they would continue all day and destroy all 16," Yeya Tandina, a local Malian journalist, said by telephone.
"They are armed and have surrounded the sites with pick-up trucks. The population is just looking on helplessly," he said, adding that the Islamists were currently taking pick-axes to the mausoleum of Sidi El Mokhtar, another cherished local saint.
Ansar Dine (Arabic: أنصار الدين, also transliterated Ançar Dine, Ançar Deen or Ansar ad-Din; meaning "Defenders of Faith"[1]) is an Islamist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ag Ghaly, one of the most prominent figures of a Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s, is accused of having links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other Islamist groups, a splinter group which is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine wants the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) across Mali.[2][3] The group's first action was in March 2012. On 26 May 2012, the group merged with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to form the National Army of Azawad
Affiliation
Ansar Dine has its main base among the Ifora tribe from the southern part of the Tuaregs' homeland.[4] It has been linked with Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) because its leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is the cousin of AQIM commander Hamada Ag Hama.[3] Salma Belaala, a professor at the Warwick University who does research on jihadism in Northern Africa, says this association is false.[5] Ag Ghaly was also previously associated with the 1990 Tuareg rebellion.[3] The group seeks to impose sharia law across Mali, including in the Azawad region. Witnesses have said Ansar Dine fighters wear long beards and fly black flags with the Shahada (Islamic creed) inscribed in white.[6][7][8] According to different reports, unlike the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), Ansar Dine does not seek independence but rather to keep Mali intact and convert it into a rigid theocracy
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