Ansar Dine (
ʾAnṣār ad-Dīn, also transliterated
Ançar Deen) means "
helpers of the
(Islamic) religion" or "defenders of the faith" in
Arabic. Ansar Dine is a militant
Islamist group led by
Iyad Ag Ghaly, one of the most prominent leaders of the
Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s. He is suspected of having ties with
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (as well as other splinter Islamist groups) which is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine wants the imposition of strict
Sharia law across
Mali. The group's first action was in March 2012. The organization is not to be confused with the Sufi movement Ançar Dine, started in Southern Mali by Chérif Ousmane Haidara in the 1980s, which is fundamentally opposed to militant Islamism.