Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a terrorist link in the Sahel, has appointed Mibrak Yezid aka Abu Oubeida Youssouf Al-Annabi as its new leader, according to a video released by Sheikh Ghouteiba Abu No’Oman, a Mauritanian senior official of the movement, and broadcast by Al Andalus, its media arm.
The new Algerian emir replaces Abdel Malik Droukdal, killed in a French raid in northern Mali in June 2020.
Mibrak Yezid alias Abou Oubeida Youssouf Al-Annabi is an ex-Afghanistani and a former active member of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in Algeria.
He was also one of the founders of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2004 and AQIM in 2007. He has chaired the Council of Notables of the latter organisation since 2010.
Abou Oubeida Youssouf Al-Annabi is also presented as the mastermind of the attack on Tiguentourine located 45 kilometres west of In Amenas (the Algerian Southwest). A hostage-taking carried out on January 13, 2013, with a death toll of several dozen victims. He was handed a death sentence by the Algerian judiciary in 2017.