Souleymane Keïta

Souleymane Keïta was a Senegalese jihadist and the founder of the short-lived Khalid ibn al-Walid Battalion of Katiba Macina.

Biography Keïta was born in 1959 or 1968 near Kaolack, Senegal, although other sources state he was born in Kangaba, Mali, near the Guinean border. He was born to a large Malinke family from Guinea.

Keïta joined Ghaly's Ansar Dine in 2012, fighting in the early stages of the Mali War. Malian security sources stated that Keïta would have served as a "recruiting sergeant" during this time. Keïta also fought against French and Malian forces at the Battle of Konna. After Operation Serval, Keïta returned to southern Mali and founded the Khalid ibn al-Walid Battalion, also known as Ansar Dine Sud. His battalion had fighters from southern Mali, along with jihadists from Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. He then established another base in the Sama Forest of Sikasso Region, on the Malian-Ivorian border.