Sedane Ag Hita

Sedane Ag Hita, also known as Abou Abdelhakim al-Kidali, is a Malian jihadist who is currently serving as the second-in-command of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin since March 11, 2019.

Biography

Early life and AQIM years Hita was born in Kidal, Mali and joined the Malian National Guard where he received the rank of sergeant-major. Hita deserted the Malian army in 2006 at the onset of the 2006 Tuareg rebellion, and joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the early 2010s. He joined Katiba Al Ansar led by Abdelkrim al-Targui, and was active as a fighter in Kidal Region. Around this time, Hita took the kunya of Abou Abdel Hamid al-Kidali or al-Qairawani.

In February 2013, Hita escaped French bombardment during the Battle of Ifoghas. He took refuge near Aguelhok and announced that he had defected from AQIM. Hita attempted to contact the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and testified about the death of AQIM emir Abdelhamid Abou Zeid. Hita reportedly helped kidnap them to obtain the release of his nephews. His nephews were released in December 2014 in exchange for journalist Serge Lazarevic, but one of them was killed in 2015 and the other in 2017.

JNIM and second-in-command At the founding of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliated coalition that brought together five jihadist groups, Hita was announced as a top leader in the group. After the death of Djamel Okacha in 2019, the second-in-command of JNIM, Hita was appointed as JNIM's second-in-command. Hita's promotion was announced in a voice message through WhatsApp in March 2019. These negotiations eventually led to the release of 200 jihadists including some perpetrators of the 2015 Bamako hotel attack and the 2016 Ouagadougou attacks, and the release of Sophie Pétronin and Soumaïla Cissé.

In July 2024, Hita commanded an ambush on Wagner Group and Malian forces in Tinzaouaten, Mali alongside emir of Tinzaouaten Abderahmane Zaza. JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack alongside the CSP-PSD.

In 2019, the United States sanctioned Hita as an SDGT for his role in JNIM.