Wassim nasr biography of christopher

Roads become very difficult for both the army and terrorist groups. See Figure 1. For Mali as a whole, there was also a significant rise in JNIM attacks across these categories between the and rainy seasons. See Figure 2. Overall, when attacks by the Islamic State and other entities are added to the mix, there has been a dramatic increase in political violence in Mali since the Wagner deployment.

The U. It stated that in recent months JNIM had imposed strict social and political norms on the local population in several of its strongholds and that reprisal attacks against communities for their purported cooperation with Malian junta forces had increased. On October 26, Victoria Nuland, a senior U. State Department official, in speaking about Mali, highlighted the U.

Hundreds were killed and thousands displaced as the Islamic State militants pushed deeper into Mali from their pre-existing strongholds near the eastern borders. Overall, the trend is for increasing Islamic State activity in Mali. According to the same source, Mali is playing a very active role in the rapprochement between Russia and Burkina Faso.

There is concern the newly installed military junta in Burkina Faso will also hire the Wagner Group. Nevertheless, if Wagner becomes active in Burkina Faso, it will also likely aggravate the jihadi threat there, as well as potentially allowing the jihadis to increasingly threaten Togo and Benin, where jihadi activity has been increasing in recent months.

Conclusion The deployment of the Wagner Group to Mali has strengthened and energized jihadi groups, providing them with not only a recruitment tool, but a much more favorable operating environment in Mali. MINUSMA has been providing most of the post-battle medical evacuations of Malian forces as well as much of the civilian and military air transport between Bamako and the north.

Their juntas have since turned their backs on traditional Western allies in favour of Russia, left West Africa's main economic and political bloc Economic Community of West African State and formed their own tripartite alliance. The countries have already suspended France 24 and other international broadcasters over their coverage of the insurgency.

News Details. It was the Islamic State that most recently carried out the major, deadly attacks in Kabul. It is the real threat, not al-Qaida. The Americans took massive action against IS fighters in the country. But will they continue to do so — with armed drones or cruise missiles? No one can say at this point. For now, the Taliban are on their own, and no one knows if their fighters can do the job.

But there's also another problem: If the Taliban now carry out anti-terrorist operations, this could divide the country into two camps. All those who no longer feel represented by their new government could then radicalize further and possibly join IS. Nasr: Not much. We should stop pretending once and for all that we are dealing with a new generation of Taliban.

The new head of their political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, spent eight years in prison in Pakistan. He was a close friend of the former Taliban leader Mullah Omar. And the recently appointed governor of Khost, Mohammad Nabi Omari, spent 12 years in Guantanamo and was only released thanks to a trade that was made for a U. These are still the same people and the ideology has remained the same.

Wassim nasr biography of christopher: Wassim NASR's Post. View profile for

But they are now acting more politically, more strategically adept. There is a military road for Turkish military, etc. Going through this was easy because they knew I was coming. Turkish humanitarian relief workers drove me by van to the HTS side. I was the only one crossing the border.

Wassim nasr biography of christopher: Wassim Nasr is a

They did not have guns and were dressed in civilian attire. I think that was done on purpose. I hardly even saw people with military outfits. After spending time in the media office, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Disneyland. We were joined by a personality from the media office of HTS, and the talk became more in-depth.

Then we drove through a couple of checkpoints to get into the city of Idlib, and one thing that really struck me was the flags of the Syrian revolution were fluttering everywhere and that no one was dressed in jihadi attire. Fighters were not present. Entering the city, there was only one classic white Islamic flag with the Shahada written in black.

But as I toured the city and its various neighborhoods, it became clear to me that this display was not just for my benefit. At the end of the day, I was just a journalist, without a television camera. Other than at checkpoints, I saw only one guy on a bike with a Kalashnikov. I saw men smoking. Women wore either the niqab or just a hijab.

There was separation of men and women in all the restaurants and cafes I went to. I talked to students there that were preparing for their exams. I saw women. Those are interesting indicators. I asked my escorts about the absence of fighters. Those who want to fight, go to the frontlines rather than remaining among civilians in the streets and the shops.

It scares people. Our way to reassure people is not to have military presence in towns and on the streets and in the markets.

Wassim nasr biography of christopher: Wassim Nasr is a French

Nasr: I was always with the representative from the media of the Salvation Government. I talked to people in the streets. I talked to people in the camps. I talked to people in restaurants and shops. Before setting off for Syria, I had not asked to see al-Julani, but I had made it clear I wanted to speak to people who were able to talk on behalf of HTS in an official capacity.

During this time, I think my escorts were assessing whether they should allow me to meet al-Julani. The whole time up till that point, I had my phone on me; they never asked me to even turn it off. Nasr: I sensed the mood change. They got very serious. They, however, were stressed because they were taking me to see the boss after having, I guess, vouched for me.

My conversation with al-Julani was off the record but afterwards they said I could state that I saw him. I talked for an hour and a half with al-Julani. The spirit of what he said, if you want to know, is available publicly, most of it, including in his latest public announcement at Eid that he made with prominent figures and representatives from Idlib.

Nasr: Sharp. At the beginning, of course, he also tested me. We ended up talking about the era of He was really straightforward. He was dressed as a civilian: jeans and a black shirt, [Hugo] Boss. Very short hair. There was one person with us at the beginning, and then we were left one to one.