An alleged al-Qaeda-linked Islamist leader was handed over to the International Criminal Court Saturday to face charges of ordering the destruction of monuments in Mali’s fabled city of Timbuktu, in the first such case before the tribunal.

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was detained under an arrest warrant issued by the ICC last week and handed over by the authorities in Niger, the court said in a statement. The details of his arrest were not immediately clear.

He is suspected “of war crimes allegedly committed in Timbuktu, Mali, between about 30 June 2012 and 10 July 2012, through intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and/or historical monuments,” the statement said.

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told AFP that Faqi arrived at the court’s detention unit in The Hague at 3.20 am (0120 GMT), in what is the first such case to be brought by the court for the destruction of religious buildings and historical monuments.

It is also the first case to be brought by the ICC, the world’s only permanent war crimes court for the unrest that has wracked the west African nation.

Faqi “is expected to make a first appearance in the next few days, but an exact date has not been set,” Abdallah said.

Unspeakable crimes

Faqi, a Tuareg leader also known Abu Tourab, is suspected of war crimes for deliberately destroying buildings at the UNESCO-listed desert heritage site in 2012.

Called the “City of 333 Saints”, Timbuktu around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of Mali’s capital Bamako, was attacked for months by jihadists.

In June 2012, Al-Qaeda-linked militants destroyed 16 of the northern city’s mausoleums, dating back to its golden age as an economic, intellectual and spiritual centre in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Timbuktu mayor Halle Ousmane told AFP that Faqi’s arrest was “good news”.

“Destroying a mausoleum is like murdering someone, their history and their past,” he said. “Like all people from Timbuktu I’m happy (about the arrest). I will closely follow the trial.”

Faqi was a leader of Ansar Dine, a mainly Tuareg group linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and one of the groups that briefly took control of Mali’s vast arid north in 2012.

Born in Agoune, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Timbuktu, Faqi “was an active personality in the context of the occupation of Timbuktu,” the ICC said in a statement.

In his role as part of the Islamic Court of Timbuktu, Faqi is alleged to have jointly ordered or carried out the destruction of nine of the mausoleums as well as the Sidi Yahia mosque.

The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Faqi was “criminally responsible for having committed, individually and jointly with others, facilitated or otherwise contributed to the commission of war crimes” linked to the destruction of the buildings.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called Faqi’s arrest an “important step forward in the fight against impunity, not only in Mali but also the broader Sahel and Sahara region in Africa, whose populations have been in recent years subjected to unspeakable crimes.”

Manuscripts burned

Bensouda had opened an investigation into the situation in Mali in January 2013, after it was reported to the tribunal by the government of Mali the previous year.

In 2014 the UN cultural body, UNESCO, began rebuilding Timbuktu with the Malian government and other international organisations after a 2013 French-led military operation drove the jihadists out of the city.

The 10 million euro ($11 million) reconstruction project relies heavily on traditional building methods and local cultural knowledge.

The mausoleums were constructed to pay homage to deceased saints who were regarded as pious, great humanists and scholars of their time — but the buildings were considered blasphemous by the jihadists.

Around 4,000 manuscripts were also lost, stolen or burned during the Islamist takeover, and 10,000 manuscripts were discovered in unsuitable storage conditions.

However, 370,000 of the priceless parchments were smuggled to Bamako in 2012 to protect them from the jihadists, and archivists in Mali’s capital are now painstakingly classifying and digitising them.

In what is considered the largest surrender since Boko Haram militants launched their attacks in Nigeria in 2009, at least 200 extremists from the group surrendered to the Nigerian army on Friday, 25 September. The army tweeted about the surrender just as the Nigerian troops captured Banki, a border town with Cameroon, from the clutches of the extremist group.

Nigerian Army @HQNigerianArmy

Islamist Boko Haram militants operating out of Nigeria raided a village across the border in southern Niger and massacred at least 15 civilians, Niger security sources said on Friday, September 25, according to Reuters.

The overnight attack took place in the village of N’Gourtoua in the Diffa region near the West African nation’s border with Nigeria, as residents celebrated Tabaski, or Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice.

“There were at least 15 villagers killed, either shot or with their throats slit. Boko Haram also burned down a number of houses and looted shops,” one of the sources said.

A second military source confirmed the deaths. Both sources asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A regional offensive by Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon earlier this year drove Boko Haram from much of the territory it held in northern Nigeria. But the militants have since struck back with a renewed wave of deadly raids and suicide bombings.

Niger’s government has placed Diffa under a state of emergency, and authorities there have arrested and imprisoned more than 1,000 suspected militants.

Ugandan police warned of a possible attack on mosques including in the capital Kampala by Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants and cautioned the public to be vigilant.

Police said they had received intelligence indicating al Shabaab was planning an attack on Kampala during the Eid al-Adha holiday on Thursday.

“The hunt for the al Shabaab cell/group behind this planned attack is ongoing, we call upon the general public to be extra alert and vigilant,” the statement, issued late on Wednesday, said. Police have increased security around the city.

The east African country has issued frequent warnings of planned al Shabaab attacks since 2010 when twin bombings killed 79 people.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for those attacks, saying they were revenge for Uganda’s deployment of troops in Somalia.

Uganda’s military contingent forms the backbone of the African Union’s AMISOM peacekeeping force in Somalia which has been battling the Islamist rebels with the Somali army.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, in his Sallah message to Muslims in the country, has affirmed that all acts of insurgency were un-Islamic, alleging that insurgency was against the tenets of Islam and against the cultures and norms of Muslims in Nigeria and the world over.

DAILY POST reports that the sultan disclosed this on Thursday in Sokoto. He said in the North East Zone of the country, there had been tremendous achievements in the ongoing fight against insurgency.
Abubakar said, ” We must commend the various security agencies in the country for their sustained efforts in taming the menace of insurgency and other related crimes in the nation.

” These commendable efforts must be sustained to avoid complacency and to sustain the giant strides in this direction.”

The Sultan commended security agencies in the state for working round the clock to ensure the prevalence of sustainable peace and security, and further commended the Federal and Sokoto State Governments for providing security agencies with the enabling environment to diligently operate.

“The prevailing peace and security in the state and Nigeria in general is due to good governance,” he noted.

“Let me use this medium to commiserate with the families of the victims of insurgency as well as those of the recent Makkah crane crash which resulted in about 110 deaths, including six Nigerians. I also want to commend the Saudi authorities for promptly treating the injured pilgrims as well as compensating the dead, saying these acts constitute a mark of leadership.

“At all levels, the government are trying their best to provide for the needs of the people, but more should be done, with more policies and programmes being introduced to further reduce the menace of high rates of poverty and unemployment in the country. Leadership is a trust from God and we must strive to discharge it diligently, piously and transparently,” the Sultan stated.

“In this regard,” Abubakar continued, “I commend Gov. Aminu Tambuwal for sustaining the laudable programmes and policies of his predecessor such as the retention of the Zakkat and Endowment Committee.”

The Sultan, however, conclusively appealed to wealthy individuals in the country to positively complement the efforts of the three tiers of government in tackling poverty through job creations for youth.

Somali military officials said Wednesday that at least 10 Al-Shabaab militants were killed in a battle in Bay region, southern Somalia.

Abdullahi Sheikh Ahmed, a senior military officer in the region, told journalists that Somali and Ethiopian troops also burnt three vehicles after intense battle with the militants early Wednesday.

“During the fighting, we killed 10 of Al-Shabaab fighters and burned three vehicles, and captured strategic district of Labatan Jirow which lies 60 km of Badio town, southern Somalia,” he said.

The military official also said that they are holding several Al-Shabaab militants, vowing to bring them into the justice.

Mustaf Jelle, one of the residents in Labatan Jirow district, told Xinhua that huge clashes erupted in the district.

“Government forces have been carrying out military operations in the region, and they captured Labatan Jirow after intense fighting,” Jelle said.

The Al-Qaida linked group Al-Shabaab, which is battling to topple the Somali federal government, has lost many strongholds in southern and central Somalia. But the group is still able to launch attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries.

On Monday, Al-Shabaab militants exploded a car bomber near the presidential palace in capital Mogadishu, killing 11 people. Enditem

African Union (AU) peacekeeping force fighter jets conducted raids in Bay region, southern Somalia, targeting Al-Shabaab militants, officials said on Tuesday.

Hassan Hussein, Rehabilitation Minister of Militia for South-western regional Administration, told media that AU fighter jets launched attacks on the rebel hideouts in some areas in the Bay region

“The shelling succeeded in its goal, and during the operation, a number of fighters who were hiding in Bay region were killed,” he said.

The official did not give more details about the operation, but stressed the continuation of such operations against Al-Shabaab.

Residents in the region said they heard several explosions.

“The fighter jets launched intense bombing in the areas of Bay region. Airstrike is not new in this region,” said resident Ahmed Kadiye.

South-western Administration is an autonomous region in south-western Somalia formed in November last year as one of the country’s federal system. It is led by former transitional federal government parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.

The air raids come in the wake of increased attacks by Al-Shabaab in the country despite being vanquished in their major strong holders in southern Somalia.

Al-Shabaab on Monday exploded a car bomber near the presidential palace in capital Mogadishu. By far, 11 people have killed after three more people succumbed to injuries sustained during the attack.