Mali's ruling military junta has offered a reward of $3.5 million (about €3 million) for information that leads to the arrest or killing of Iyad Ag Ghaly, who heads the Sahel branch of the terror group al-Qaeda that launched a major offensive in April.

Ghaly, the chief of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), is wanted by several countries in Africa's Sahel region, several of which are ruled by military juntas.

In April, JNIM joined forces with Tuareg rebels to launch the largest attacks against the Malian government in more than a decade. The near-simultaneous assaults killed several people, including Defense Minister Sadio Camara.

JNIM is the largest Islamist group fighting the juntas in the Sahel, where numerous extremist Islamist and separatist groups operate.

Who is Iyad Ag Ghaly?

Ghaly, the most wanted man in the region, is a former Malian diplomat and a Tuareg rebel. The Tuareg people are a semi-nomadic Indigenous ethnic group that mainly lives in countries spread across the Sahara Desert.

Ghaly is also wanted by the United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Mali's Security Ministry has offered 2 billion CFA francs ($3.5 million) for information that helps with Ghaly's "capture or neutralization."

In an order signed by Mali's Security and Civil Protection Minister, Major General Daoud Aly Mohammedine, the ministry also offered $2.5 million for one of his deputies, Amadou Kouffa, as well as cash for information on two Tuareg rebel leaders, including separatist Alghabass Ag ​Intalla.

"These individuals are actively sought by the authorities for their alleged involvement in the planning, organisation and execution of terrorist acts that have threatened the safety of people and their property within the national territory," a statement that was broadcast on national television said.

Mali's history of violence

Mali, which has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2020, has struggled with extremist Islamist violence and separatist insurgencies for the past 15 years.

The unrest is primarily led by the JNIM and affiliates of the so-called "Islamic State" group, but criminal gangs and Tuareg rebel groups are also active.

Mali's military rulers seized power vowing to restore security to the Sahel nation.

Led by General Assimi Goita, the junta has cracked down on critics and dissolved political parties. It has also expelled troops from France, its former colonizer and later security partner, and welcomed Russian forces instead.

After initially pledging to hand over power to a civilian government by March 2024, in July last year the military authorities gave Goita a five-year presidential term that can be renewed "as many times as necessary" without holding elections.

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Edited by: Zac Crellin