AQIM’s Mauritanian Jihadist-Theologian in the Sahel—Abdullah al-Shinqiti
AQIM’s Mauritanian Jihadist-Theologian in the Sahel—Abdullah al-Shinqiti
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has historically been an Algeria-based and Algerian-led jihadist group. Nevertheless, AQIM has empowered, in particular, Malians by allowing them to lead AQIM’s Mali-based sub-affiliate, Group of Supporters of Islam and Muslims (Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin—JNIM). In addition, although AQIM’s shura (consultative council) has principally consisted of only Algerians, AQIM did elevate Mauritanians to Sahel-based AQIM leadership positions. One such Mauritanian promoted by AQIM in the Sahel at a young age was Mohamed Lemine al-Hacene al-Hadrami (a.k.a. Abdullah al-Shinqiti).
Al-Shinqiti first gained prominence in 2012, when he became the first non-Algerian to lead an AQIM brigade (Sahara Media, September 27, 2012). This occurred when al-Shinqiti took over AQIM’s al-Furqan brigade, which had previously been led by the Algerian Yahaya al-Hammam (Jemal Oukacha). However, al-Hammam was promoted to lead AQIM’s Sahara Region, which left open the al-Furqan brigade leadership position for al-Shinqiti.
The experience that al-Shinqiti brought to the table included his being the spokesman of AQIM’s Sahara Region prior to his promotion. He was skilled in communicating with recruits and the mainstream press, making attack claims and various statements. The Sahara Region was also known as AQIM’s ‘sixth zone’ and included parts of northern Mali. Prior to all this, al-Shinqiti, who was born in 1981 in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott to a family originally from Trarza, had already earned a reputation as a religious scholar. Trarza was a hotbed of Salafist radicalism in Mauritania in the 1980s and a recruiting epicenter for AQIM, which may also have influenced al-Shinqiti’s early trajectory.
The key turning point for al-Shinqiti was when he enrolled in the Advanced Institute for Islamic Studies and Research (ISERI), which was among the institutes in Mauritania that had taught Saudi-style Salafism since the 1970s (Al Jazeera, July 27, 2012). However, in 2003, Mauritania’s then-president Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya blamed Islamists for an attempted coup, despite the fact that their involvement was peripheral. This led to a crackdown on Islamists that continued until a year after Ould Taya himself was overthrown in a coup in 2005. As a result, the government imprisoned numerous young Islamists, including al-Shinqiti. He wrote his thesis during his 16 months of imprisonment in 2005-2006 (Sahara Media, September 27, 2012).
Al-Shinqiti seems to have transformed from an Islamic student into a jihadist while in prison. After his release, he was not seen again until he emerged as an AQIM spokesman. In particular, he was known for appealing to other young Mauritanian AQIM recruits and preaching with other well-educated young Mauritanian theologians, including Ibrahim Ould Hamoud (Abu Darda al-Shinqiti), at least until Hamoud’s arrest in Algeria in 2019 (abamako.com, February 12, 2019).
Abdullah al-Shinqiti in AQIM Videos and Messages
If AQIM videos are any indication, Abdullah al-Shinqiti was not only a preacher, but also a source of moral support for the organization’s members. For example, in the second part of AQIM’s August 2011 video “Assault Them at the Gate,” al-Shinqiti was seen praying over a slain Mauritanian “martyr” who had just died in battle and even appeared to smile in death during al-Shinqiti’s prayers (Al-Andalus, August 3, 2011). Despite al-Shinqiti’s prominent role in AQIM and position as spokesman, he rarely appeared in videos.
Perhaps the only other video in which al-Shinqiti appeared was AQIM’s video called “Fighting Is Prescribed for You,” which came out in August 2010, one year before the “Assault Them at the Gate” video. In this video, al-Shinqiti appeared along with other prominent Mauritanian and Malian AQIM commanders, including Hamadou Kheiry and Oumar Ould Hamaha, and Fulani, Nigerian, and Guinean fighters, all of whom delivered lectures. Al-Shinqiti’s lecture had distinctly global and sub-Saharan African themes, including when he called for jihad and asked the audience of fighters: “Don’t you see what happens to our brothers in Palestine, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Sudan?” (al-Andalus, August 1, 2010).
Al-Shinqiti appears to have followed through with his engagement of sub-Saharan African jihadists. In October 2011, Nigerian jihadists in Boko Haram, including several who had significant training and combat experience with AQIM, wrote a letter to Abdullah al-Shinqiti to explain how Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was engaging in “deviance and excesses.” They sought to separate from Shekau, but sought AQIM’s permission to do so.
Since al-Shinqiti had prior experience among Nigerian jihadists, he was the recipient of their letter. Moreover, al-Shinqiti’s high-level position in AQIM meant he could pass on the letter to other influential AQIM members, including Mokhtar Belmokhtar, to whom the Nigerian jihadists wanted the letter forwarded, and another prominent Mauritanian AQIM theologian and mediator, Abu Numan Qutayba al-Shinqiti (see Militant Leadership Monitor, May 5). Eventually, the letter was also passed to two leading Algerian AQIM theologians, Abderrahmane Abou Ishak Essoufi and Abu al-Hassan Rashid al-Bulaydi, who approved the Nigerian jihadists’ separation from Shekau. This separation happened in January 2012 and led to the formation of the Boko Haram breakaway faction, Jamaat Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Group of Muslim Supporters in Black Africa), or “Ansaru” (al-Andalus, April 2017).
Operating from Behind the Scenes
Ansaru became the al-Qaeda-loyal faction in Nigeria, but it was still far less influential than either the Shekau-led Boko Haram or Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), which was formed in March 2015. Meanwhile, in Mali and neighboring parts of Niger and Mali, AQIM supported the 2017 formation of JNIM, whose leadership featured Malians in much more prominent positions than Mauritanians. This was partly because Mauritanian theologians like al-Shinqiti tended to remain in AQIM, whereas JNIM recruited Malians, Nigeriens, and Burkinabes and also fielded extra-regional fighters from as far away as Saudi Arabia (Jana-ly, March 11).
Nevertheless, Mauritanian theologians like Abu Numan Qutayba al-Shinqiti still advised JNIM. In January 2020, for example, he drafted two treatises calling for jihadist unity and the gradual implementation of sharia. These treatises were intended to address JNIM’s growing conflict with Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) (al-Zallaqa, January; al-Zallaqa, February). However, all-out ISGS-JNIM clashes continued.
Amid these developments involving ISGS and JNIM and the latter’s increasing activity in the Sahel, Abdullah al-Shinqiti initially kept a low profile and was rarely seen in AQIM videos or statements. This was likely because AQIM’s Sahara Region, including the al-Furqan brigade, was subsumed into JNIM and al-Shinqiti did not retain his brigade leadership or spokesman positions in the reorganization. Rather, Yahya Abu al-Hammam represented what had been AQIM’s Sahara Region within JNIM’s formation and the Saudi Abu Dujana al-Qasimi, who had once been in Belmokhtar’s brigade, assumed the spokesman position in JNIM (Mali Canal, March 8, 2019).
Still, in August 2020, Abdullah al-Shinqiti issued his first statement after a long period of silence. In it, al-Shinqiti criticized France for engaging in conspiratorial plots in Mauritania, disrespecting Muslims in the Sahel and North Africa, and operating as a master over African Muslims (Site Intel Group, August 12). This indicated that al-Shinqiti had shifted his attention toward his native country, Mauritania, perhaps because he did not join JNIM, and JNIM itself was responsible for disseminating messages about Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Sahel, but not necessarily Mauritania. In contrast, AQIM’s narratives remained more oriented toward Algeria and Mauritania.
Al-Shinqiti, in his August 2020 statement, seemed to recall his own experience at ISERI, which was closed down before his imprisonment in 2005: he criticized Mauritania’s more recent closure of another Islamic university and center in Mauritania (Al Araby, November 21, 2018). He further accused Mauritania’s government of serving ‘Crusaders’ and disrespecting Islam, while also calling on Mauritanian Muslims to defend their honor and embrace jihad. Although AQIM has not conducted any attacks in Mauritania in nearly a decade, by mid-2020, JNIM had begun operating near the Mauritania-Mali border. Thus, al-Shinqiti’s threats could be viewed as sending a message to Mauritania to stop collaborating with France, cracking down on Islamists, and arresting jihadists, or risk suffering a JNIM attack.
Contextualizing Abdullah al-Shinqiti’s Career
Abdullah al-Shinqiti’s career reflects AQIM’s broader trajectory. He began as an educated Islamic student in Mauritania, was pressured by his native government and imprisoned, was radicalized, and then joined AQIM. He viewed AQIM as his best option to seek revenge against the Mauritanian government. However, by the late 2000s, AQIM was already beginning to expand into Sahelian countries, as far away as Nigeria, and al-Shinqiti became involved in these efforts. In particular, he was the point-person between AQIM and Boko Haram for a period in 2011 and delivered lectures to other sub-Saharan African fighters, as seen in AQIM videos.
Like other Mauritanian AQIM theologians, al-Shinqiti neither fit in completely with AQIM’s Algerian-centric leadership nor JNIM’s Malian focus. He nevertheless ended up remaining in AQIM, but was rarely seen in any videos or statements after JNIM’s formation. This is despite having held a prominent position in AQIM’s Sahelian operations before JNIM’s formation. Al-Shinqiti’s reemergence in August 2020 as an AQIM theologian, with a focus not only on Mauritania, but also the Sahel and Africa more broadly, reflects al-Shinqiti’s long-term embeddedness in AQIM and the breadth of his narratives and regional experience.
Ultimately, although Mauritania and AQIM have seemingly engaged in detente, there is no guarantee they will not clash again. AQIM, or JNIM specifically, has continuously spread its areas of operations since its formation and is already conducting attacks near Mauritania’s borders. Should JNIM engage in attacks within Mauritania itself, one can expect AQIM theologians from Mauritania, especially Abdullah al-Shinqiti, to explain, to the world and other jihadists, al-Qaeda’s demands on Mauritania and the organization’s reasons for attacking the country.
