بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم Jamaat Ansar Al-Din Press release regarding the military operations الحمد هلل رب العالمين والصالة والسالم على رسول هللا واله وصحبه ومن اتبع هداه أما بعد: In these same days in the past year, the first steps to establish the Islamic project in the Azawad region north of Mali, on the hands of Jamaat Ansar Al-Din, where the people witnessed the leading and distinguished experience, of implementing the Islamic Sharia, and the far and near saw the justice and lenience of Islam, which as much as it healed the hearts of the believers and returned to them the lost hope, it made the Kuffar and hypocrites sleepless, so they couldn t be patient to see that nation determines its fate by themselves, after they gulping the bitterness of tragedies for decades, to live free, under the shadow of the Sharia which they were raised on, and inherited it generation after generation. So it was required from those responsible for this project out of the responsibility entrusted to them to preserve that new born, and maintain the gains if the Ummah, that was tired by the bitter experiences, which weren t built on basis that ensures for it the success and survival, and for that the leadership of Ansar Al-Din resumed the military operations, directing preemptive strikes, to the army of the tyrant racist regime, which was followed by rapid developments that exceeded the expectations of the observers. We today in Jamaat Ansar Al-Din, amidst these events, publish this statement to clarify our stance, and to reassure to our people in particular, and to the Ummah in general, so we say and success is from Allah: Firstly: Reasons for the decision of resuming the military operations: That decision wasn t easy, since everyone knows how difficult it is to fight this war, especially in this timing when the colonial power are mobilizing their armies in invade us, and in the light of the lack of equivalence in the number and equipment, despite of that Jamaat Ansar Al-Din were forced to launch the military operations, due to the tragic circumstances which our oppressed and helpless people ended to, and the most important of it were: 1. The repeated assaults against the innocents and unarmed from our people, on several occasions south and west of the country, where the worst massacres were
committed against them, on the hands of the army of the evil racist regime, by complicity of the colonial powers, and absolute silence from the human rights organizations, that got used to mourn on the torturers, and trading with the pains of the oppressed victims. 2. Failure of all the negotiating initiatives that were offered by the negotiators, headed by the Ansar Al-Din delegation, which we tried through it to find a peaceful solution for the political and humanitarian crisis which the region is passing through, which were received by absolute disregard by the leaders of the regime in Bamako, by pressure from their masters in Paris, despite of our openness to all suggestions, that were put forward by the mediators concerned with the issue, as long as it didn t contradict with basic fundamentals, which our struggle and strive was based on, on top of it the demand of implementing the Islamic Sharia. 3. The ongoing preparations by France and its allies in the region, for interfering militarily in order to eradicate the alleged terrorism, as have been stated by its leaders in their media statements, forgetting the disgraceful terrorist history of this state, which isn t hesitated from supporting the terrorist dictatorships, that install the pillars of their rule by annihilation of their people, including the racist regime in Bamako. 4. The confirmed information about a near military attack started by the Malian army against the city of Douentza, taking advantage of the Jamaat Ansar Al-Din being busy with the negotiation process on one hand, and the distribution of its combat units in wide regions, to manage the internal affairs of areas that it control, that attack that became clear later after the battle of Konna, that it was planned and supervised by French officers, we have unequivocal evidence of their presence in the Konna region when we began our military operations, and when that information was confirmed, the Jamaat Ansar Al-Din considered the undeclared agreement of ceasefire between it and the Malian army canceled, and it is no longer valid. Secondly: Some of the details of the military operations on the Konna front 1. The military operations that began in the town of Konna, on Tuesday 2013-01- 08 which was besieged for two days, it witnessed indiscriminate shelling with heavy artillery by the Malian army, and a clash between one of its companies and fighters of the Jamaat, which resulted in the death of a soldier of the Malian army,
after a failed circumvent attempt, conducted by the Malian army by making the villagers who are nearby the area as human shields, by indulging in their villages, and shooting from it. 2. The main battle began in Konna on Thursday 2013-01-10 from 9:30 am to 3 pm, and it was decisive and surprising the enemy, in which it suffered from heavy losses in lives and equipment: at least 25 dead, according to our preliminary estimates and 11 SUVs, 6 tanks, and huge amounts of recently produced ammunition (2008), and light and heavy arms, and the complete withdrawal of the Malian army to Sévaré. 3. The mujahidin were very cautious, for their keen not to target civilians, and sabotage of the infrastructure of the city, that was what really happened, which generated a satisfaction and joy of the inhabitants, who hailed and were happy for the arrival of Ansar Al-Din, and they received them with Takbir and offered them water for Wudu, and none of the fighting units of the mujahidin of Ansar Al-Din were harmed, and the number of killed in the ranks of the Jamaat were five dead, we ask Allah to accept them as martyrs. 4. The awful defeat of the enemy in Konna was the first spark for the beginning of the French colonial crusade against the Muslim land of Mali, and the first thing that this campaign began with, was the heavy shelling on the city of Konna, that targeted mosques and unarmed homes, that resulted in 8 victims from the locals, none of them were from the fighters, in a flagrant violation for the ethics of war, which the colonial powers boast of preserving them, when they are the first to trample them, but Allah avenge for those Muslims and Allah guided the mujahidin s anti-aircraft to shoot down a French helicopter, where a senior officer in the French army was killed, which the enemy was forced to acknowledge after days of reticence, Alhamdulillah. 5. The colonial crusade led by France was accompanied by another attack of misinformation, by claiming that the shelling targeted the mujahidin in Konna, and that the Malian army seized it once again and the mujahidin have fled from their rear bases, after tens of them were killed, all that wee lies and misinformation from the French media machine, but Alhamdulillah the media committee of Ansar Al-Din was refuting the claims of the enemy, and documents its achievements by audio and video, despite of the lack and limited media space available to them, which the media of the enemy was incapable of that, which is a proof for the professional media bankruptcy, after the military bankruptcy on the ground.
6. We were stationed in the surrounding of the city of Konna, and controlled its entrances and exits, in case for any counterattack by the Milan army supported by the French, and strengthening the rear lines in case of any circumvent of the enemy from behind, and after long Wait-and-see, most of the units were withdrawn from the city and they pulled back, with keeping the combat units ready in state of advancing, these units engaged with Malian army supported by the French on 2013-01-16, with intensive air cover, that battle resulted in a large number of dead in the ranks of the enemy which it acknowledged three of them, and a French helicopter was shoot down with the mujahidin light arms, and two of them were killed, we ask Allah to accept them among the martyrs, then the advanced units of the mujahidin withdrew from the city of Konna, and everyone retreated to the rear lines. 7. The fighters of Ansar Al-Din to this moment are stationed near the city of Konna, and the Malian army is inside the city, after the goals of the military campaign of Ansar Al-Din were achieved, and the withdrawal from it was intended, and the misleading media is still repeating the lies, and claiming that the mujahidin were driven out from the city, despite that the withdrawal was decided days before the entrance of the army to it. Thirdly: The Jabili front 1. After making sure from the readiness of the combat units heading to Jabili, and after exhaustion of the power of the Malian army in Konna, it was decided to strike the heavily fortified Jabili garrison. The campaign started with an early morning raid on the advanced gates of the city, then storming the central barrack, and chasing the runaway remnants, and the battle continued for eight hours, where the enemy force suffered in it heavy losses in lives and equipment, 15 SUVs were seized, and 3 tanks, and huge amounts of various ammunition and shells, and the total control of all the military posts in all the region of Jabili, Sokolo and Hentono, and killed one of the heads of crime who was a guide for the Malian army in eradication of the innocents and unarmed civilians, and he was in the same time a artillery expert, and only one mujahid was killed in that battle we ask Allah to accept him among the martyrs. 2. After the end of the battle, the French warplanes conducted by very intensive shelling on the area at day and night, on the locations where the mujahidin are stationed, during it two mujahidin were killed we ask Allah to accept them among the martyrs. The mujahidin prepared for the ground battle with the French, after
news came of the presence of their forces in Newno, but Allah throw fear in their hearts, so none of their vehicles advanced, and we waited long for them, with the intensive shelling that destroyed many farms of the civilians, and targeted their villages and cattle, to implement the policy of scorched earth which France was known of throughout its disgraceful colonial history, that s why the mujahidin decided to withdraw to the rear lines, to protect the civilians and their properties from the continuous shelling, and the city was evacuated, and all the units were withdrawn with the least losses, Alhamdulillah. 3. The French media machine continued its lies and misinformation to coincide with the Jabili battles, but this time to a lesser extent, after the proofs exposed their fallacy, and they were forced to be kind of cautious in their declarations, and the confusion of the French officials appeared in the media, who thought that confronting the mujahidin is just a transient picnic, and they acknowledged the difficulty of the situation and its complexity on the ground, and Allah plagued them with political and military setbacks in the region and outside, that made them go haywire, which made them rush to force the African states, to drag their soldiers to be human shields for them. Fourthly: The success of the goals of the military operations This operation had specific goals and purposes which with the grace of Allah most of it were achieved, and it ended with a big victory that exceeded the expectations of the mujahidin themselves, to begin with it was contrary to what have been promoted by the enemy, it was not aimed to control the south, or seize the capital Bamako, that is a lie that France took as a justification for the new crusader occupation of the Muslim land of Mali, which quickly revealed its evil face, by targeting the mosques and homes of the peaceful Muslims, and we summarize the most important achievements that were achieved some of it were planned, and others were only a grace from Allah: 1. Achieving the highest goal from our jihad and fighting, which is protecting the estate of religion and defend what have been achieved from implementing the Islamic Sharia on our land, and send a clear message to the hostile parties that our people have woken up, and that it is ready to sacrifice the dear and precious for the sake of living with dignity, under the shadow of the Islamic Sharia, and that death with honor is better to us from the return of the former racist secular regime, and that the age of subjugation on the hands of the West mercenaries has gone Insha Allah and won t return, so who wanted to live with this new reality, then the
doors of the negotiations are open before them, and all the peaceful solutions can be discussed, as long as there isn t any renunciation of the fundamentals and principles, but the language of threatening and methods of arm-twisting, Allah willing will not work. 2. Disciplining the human monsters of the racist Malian army, and taking retribution from the killers of the Da ies and Ulema and the oppressed from the ordinary Muslims, which massacres of ethnic cleansing were committed against them, and their honors were violated, and their money were plundered, and they were displaced from their land without any fault of their own, except that they chose to stand next to their sons, who carried the banner of struggle against injustice, oppression and tyranny, and Allah has enabled us to fulfill our promise, and we fulfilled the retribution Alhamdulillah, and the time has come for hearts of the believers to rest and be healed from the wrath that inflected it, in the light of the silence and the complicity of the whole world. 3. Confronting the planned attack to seize Douentza, which was decided before the broke out of the battles, by planning and supervision of the French themselves, and the intelligence of the mujahidin succeeded in knowing the details of the operations, and arrest of some the agents of the espionage network participating in the plan, which from its items is moving sleeping cells in the cities, to strike the mujahidin when the operations begin. 4. Striking the advanced stationing points in Konna, which the French relied on them, and totally destroying them, and destruction of the French military equipment, that was equipped in Konna, to be used in the upcoming military campaign, and it included of high-tech devices, and equipment of broadcasting transmitter and eavesdropping. And the destruction of the enemy s stationing points in Jabili, which became in the previous year a starting point to eradicate the unarmed civilians in the Western region. 5. Inflicting losses in the enemy when the number of killed in the battles of Konna and Jabili and clashes that occurred after that reached more than 50 dead, according to our counting, and we expect that the real number is more than that, with tens of wounded and lost in the forests and deserts. 6. Shooting down of two helicopters and the death of a senior French officer who is believed to be from the air operations leadership.
7. Geographical exploration of the south regions located between Douentza and Konna, and also the surroundings of Jabili region, and identifying the strategic points, and knowing of the main and subsidiary roads, and river crossings, and advancing deep in the region of the enemy, and that is considered a big achievement we enter for the first time. 8. Contacting with the inhabitants of these regions, and introducing the Jamaat and its goals to them, and gaining new supporters from different ethnic groups. 9. Thwarting of the international interference plan that was approved by the Security Council, which provides training and equipping of the Malian army, then supporting it with the Africans, and financing it by the Westerners, and the plan now Alhamdulillah has gone down the drain. 10. Securing the supply lines and the rear bases of the mujahidin, and strengthening the logistics capabilities, and depriving the enemy from any possible military posts that make it take the initiative. 11. And the most important goal has been achieved which is the rallying of the Islamic peoples with their brothers the mujahidin, and uncovering the ugly face of the colonial crusader policies of France, and that was culminated by that solidarity by the Ulema issuing statements and Fatwas that clarify the obligation of jihad against the crusader occupier, and prohibiting the collaboration with it, and the obligation of supporting the mujahidin who defend the Aqeeda and earth, which is a step the enemy didn t expect, since they thought that the Ummah will be deceived by the slogans of spreading freedom and war on terrorism, which the time of being deceived by that has gone, Alhamdulillah. Finally: The mujahidin are fine and their morale is high, despite of the piling of the enemies and gathering of the parties. And their firm certainty of the true promise of Allah and His messenger, and they have prepared themselves to sacrifice for the sake of Allah, we ask Allah to drive away from them the cunning of the enemy. Our Lord, pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelieving people. Wa Akhiru Dawana Anilhamdu Rabbil Alamin. Office of media affairs of Jamaat Ansar Al-Din Timbuktu 2013-01-19