Islamic State Report on its 'Wilayat al-Sahel' and Fighting with the Malian Army and the Mouvement Pour Le Salut De L'Azawad

Recently, observers noticed that the Islamic State is no longer reporting on its activities in the Sahel region of West Africa under the moniker of its ‘West Africa Province,’ but rather a new ‘Sahel Province’ (Wilayat al-Sahel). It is possible that this new designation reflects a belief by the central leadership in the increased power of its affiliate in the Sahel region. This week’s issue of the Islamic State’s newsletter contains a report on some serious fighting in the recent period between the Islamic State and the Malian army in the east of the country near the border with Niger, and fighting between the Islamic State and the Mouvement Pour Le Salut De L’Azawad (MSA for short, and called Harakat Khalas Azawad in the Arabic reporting). I have translated the al-Naba’ report, while also including as an appendix the recent MSA statements on fighting with IS and translated by me from the original French.