Ahmed al-Tilemsi

Ahmed al-Tilemsi, nom de guerre of Abderrahmane Ould El Amar (Arabic: عبد الرحمن ولد العامر) was a Malian jihadist leader and drug trafficker who served as a founding member and senior figure of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and a senior figure and alleged emir of al-Mourabitoun.

Biography Most accounts of Tilemsi's life contradict each other. He was originally born to a Lemhar Arab family in the Tilemsi desert in Tabankort, Gao Region, Mali between 1977 and 1982. AFP states that Tilemsi was radicalized at a very young age, and preached from camp to camp. Tilemsi was arrested in Nouakchott, Mauritania in April 2005, but escaped on April 26, 2006.

Tilemsi became the chief of staff of MOJWA according to Jeune Afrique, but was also referred to as the head of Katiba Osama Bin Laden, one of the four katibas in MOJWA. Salem reported that Tilemsi was not the emir or military commander of MOJWA, instead being a financier of the group and later Al-Mourabitoun. Daha stated "Ahmed al-Tilemsi scared us. We have known him since the war against the Kuntas; before 2000, he stole our weapons to give to Belmokhtar. He reappeared with him in 2012. He is a real terrorist."

A five million dollar bounty was put on Tilemsi in July 2014 by the United States. Al-Mourabitoun confirmed his death on January 6, 2015.