Iyad Ag Ghaly

Iyad Ag Ghaly, also known as Abū al-Faḍl, is a Tuareg Islamist militant from Mali's Kidal Region. He has been active in Tuareg rebellions against the Malian government since the 1980s – particularly in the early 1990s. In 1988, he founded the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. In 2012, he featured as the founder and leader of the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine. He then became the founder and leader of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which was formed in 2017 from a merger of Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups.