Al-Mourabitoun (Al-Qaida in West Africa)

Al-Mourabitoun. The name literally means “the Sentinels,” or those who stand guard, in Arabic. Various spellings of the name have been used in Western reports. The name is a reference to the Almoravids (called al-Mourabitoun in Arabic), an African Islamic dynasty during the 11th and 12th centuries. It is also a tribute to the military volunteers who guarded the frontier during the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century, who are called by the same name.   The group was...