Amadou Boucary, nom de guerre Djaffar Dicko and Yéro, is a Burkinabe jihadist who has served as the leader of Ansarul Islam since 2017.

Biography

Dicko was born as Amadou Boucary or Abdoul Salam Dicko in 1972 or 1980 in either Soboule or

Pétéga Pétéga is a village situated in the Nassoumbou Department in the province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and ad ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

and is the younger brother of Ansarul Islam founder Ibrahim Malam Dicko. He attended a Koranic school, and is reportedly very technology-savvy, and is addicted to online jihadist organizations and social media platforms. Dicko also had two wives and five children as of 2017. Dicko's first roles in Ansarul Islam was as the third-in-command of the group, carrying out executions. He was also close with

Katiba Macina The Katibat Macina, also known as the Macina Liberation Movement or Macina Liberation Front (MLF, ), is a militant Islamist group that operates in Mali. It is an affiliate of Ansar Dine. Origins and membership In March 2012, the President of ...

founder

Amadou Koufa Amadou Koufa, ''nom de guerre'' of Amadou Diallo, also spelled Hamadoun Kouffa or Amadou Kouffa (born 1961) is a Malian Fulani jihadist and preacher who founded Katiba Macina, later part of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. Early life and pre ...

, and maintained ideological and operational links with Koufa. These contacts with Koufa led Dicko and his older brother to pledge allegiance to

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. Following the deaths of his brothers Ibrahim Malam and Mansour in May 2017, Dicko assumed command of Ansarul Islam. In negotiations with the Burkinabe government of

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (; born 25 April 1957) is a Burkinabé banker and politician who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 2015 until he was deposed in 2022. He was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 1996 and Pre ...

in 2020, Dicko and Ansarul Islam received an undisclosed sum of money that allowed Dicko to expand Ansarul Islam's capabilities. Dicko also came in contact with

Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (, JNIM; , GSIM; ) is a Salafi jihadism, Salafi Jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branc ...

leader

Iyad Ag Ghaly Iyad Ag Ghaly (, sometimes romanised as Ag Ghali; born 1954), also known as Abū al-Faḍl (), is a Tuareg Islamist militant from Mali's Kidal Region. He has been active in Tuareg rebellions against the Malian government since the 1980s – pa ...

, and Ghaly allegedly let Dicko's group remain independent of JNIM to diminish Koufa's prominence in JNIM. On April 1, 2023, the Burkinabe junta claimed that Dicko had been killed in drone strikes against hundreds of Ansarul Islam and JNIM fighters in Djibo Department, Burkina Faso. The rumors of Dicko's death turned out to be untrue, although a large number of jihadists were killed. The United States government imposed sanctions on Dicko and JNIM second-in-command Sidane Ag Hitta on April 23, 2024, for the kidnapping of American nationals. Dicko has been described by Burkinabe security sources as brutal and not charismatic. During clashes with the

Islamic State in the Greater Sahara Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in the past, Dicko had executed several ISGS commanders and enlisted the remaining fighters.

References

{{Reflist Living people People from Sahel Region Burkinabe Islamists Year of birth missing (living people)