Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of the Mali-based jihadist group, Ansar Dine, has announced a merger with two other groups linked with al-Qaeda, in a video that showed four other men.

According to Ceoafrica, the four other men include leaders of al-Mourabitoun, led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), as well as the leader of Mali's ethic Fulani Macina Brigade, Amadou Kouffa.

The new alliance, to be known as Jam'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims), will be led by Ag Ghali.

The groups have been responsible for attacks mainly in Mali but also elsewhere in the Sahel and Sahara, sometimes even claiming the same attacks.

They were already allied before now but this move, apart from consolidating their violent campaigns against the local authorities (and international partners), would also be a major propaganda tool.