Trans-Saharan jihadist swears allegiance to ISIS

In an audio statement sent to the Mauritanian newspaper al-Akhbar, prominent trans-Sahara jihadist leader Lehbib Ould Ali Ould Said Ould Jumani (a.k.a. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi) declared allegiance to the Islamic State on behalf of himself and a section of the organization that he leads, Harakat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad fi Gharb Afriqiya (Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa—MUJWA). He also called for the region’s jihadist groups to follow his example in declaring baya’a (allegiance) to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi