Ansar Dine

Ansar Dine, meaning "helpers of the religion" (Islam) and also known as Ansar al-Din, was a Sunni Islamist militant group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ansar Dine sought to impose absolute sharia across Mali. The group took over the city of Timbuktu in 2012, which prompted the French-led intervention, Operation Serval.