AQIM’s Sahara emirate created a sixth brigade, a Tuareg-led unit called “Youssef ben Tachfine.” The new brigade is made up largely of Tuaregs and led by El Kairouani Abu Abdelhamid al-Kidali, who is a member of AQIM’s Ansar brigade under command of Abdelkrim Tarki. The Tuareg brigade will control a large area of northeastern Mali extending to the Algerian border.
