Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Declares Jihad in Mali

Al-Qaeda-members-360x225As a result of the ongoing crisis in Mali, in which other countries, led by France, have intervened, a monitoring group has revealed that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has called for jihad in Mali.

The call to holy war from AQAP, the global network’s Yemen-based branch — which US officials have labelled Al-Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise — came as troops sought to tighten a security lock-down in Gao, the largest city in northern Mali and the target of a string of Islamist attacks.

The AQAP condemned France’s month-old military intervention against Islamist groups in the partially desert nation as a “crusader campaign against Islam”, and called on Muslims everywhere to join the fight against it, the SITE Intelligence agency said.

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“Supporting the Muslims in Mali is a duty for every capable Muslim with life and money, everyone according to their ability,” AQAP’s Sharia Committee said in a statement reported by US-based SITE, which monitors extremist Internet forums. It said jihad is “more obligatory on the people who are closer” to the fight and that “helping the disbelievers against Muslims in any form is apostasy”.