Cheikh Aoussa

Cheikh Ag Aoussa, nom de guerre Abou Mohame, was a Tuareg rebel leader and prominent drug trafficker.

Biography Ag Aoussa was born in 1965 or 1966 in Kidal, Mali. Like many other Tuaregs, he went into exile in Libya in the 1980s and joined the Islamic Legion. Through the legion, Ag Aoussa participated in the Lebanese Civil War and the Toyota War. He returned to Mali in 1990, and fought in the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, fighting in Iyad Ag Ghaly's People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MPLA). He refused to join the Malian Army after signing the National Pact peace deal in 1992, and instead made a living drug trafficking and trade. After the war, Ag Aoussa was arrested on August 1, 2010, after threatening to kill Abdousalam Ag Assalat, the head of the Kidal regional assembly. According to a leader within the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), Ag Aoussa was drawn to Ansar Dine less out of jihadist ideology and more out of solidarity between Ifoghas Tuaregs. He commanded the HCUA during the Second Battle of Kidal.

On October 8, 2016, Ag Aoussa was killed when his vehicle exploded after leaving a meeting with MINUSMA representatives. While news agencies reported the explosion being the result of a mine, the Coordination of Azawad Movements and HCUA claimed his death was a targeted assassination. The groups claimed a bomb was placed in his car while he was at the meeting.

RFI recalled Aoussa as "a man known for his generosity, a fervent defender of Azawad, a notable who has always posed as a mediator between northern communities and a seasoned military leader with powerful networks" even "if some within the former rebellion point out the sometimes unspeakable nature of some of his activities and business partners."