Terror organization: ISIS in the Greater Sahara;

Status: Djibo is a close collaborator and key lieutenant of ISIS-GS leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi (Abu Walid). Djibo directed subordinate ISIS-GS members to develop a network to kidnap or attack Westerners in Niger and surrounding countries;

Role: Djibo has also taken part in numerous assaults on local forces. He led ISIS-GS fighters in the July 1, 2019, attack on the Nigerien Armed Forces base in Inates, Tillaberi Region, Niger. He also provided the order for ISIS-GS fighters to take six Nigerien soldiers hostage during an ambush on Nigerien soldiers near Tongo Tongo on May 14, 2019;

On October 4, 2017, near Tongo Tongo, Niger, ISIS-GS-linked militants attacked members of a U.S. Special Forces team tasked with training, advising, and assisting Nigerien forces in fighting terrorism. The attack resulted in the deaths of four U.S. and four Nigerien soldiers. Two additional Americans and eight Nigeriens were wounded in the encounter. On January 12, 2018, ISIS-GS leader Abu Walid claimed responsibility for the attack.

Location: AFRICA (SUB-SAHARA);

Known Also As: Petit Chapori; Khaled Foulani;

Citizenship: Nigerien;

DOB: 1984;

Country: Niger;

Activities:
Ousmane Illiassou Djibo, is a U.S.-designated senior leader of ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS). A close affiliate of ISIS-GS leader Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, Djibo has directed a network of militants targeting westerners and has taken part in numerous attacks on local forces in Niger and the surrounding areas. The U.S. Department of State designated Djibo as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on June 28, 2021.;

Djibo, a native Nigerien, serves as a collaborator and key lieutenant of al-Sahrawi, who operates the group out of the Menaka region in Mali. ISIS-GS, which was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in May 2018, was established after al-Sahrawi split from al-Mourabitoun—an al-Qaeda splinter group—and pledged allegiance to ISIS in May 2015. ISIS central acknowledged the pledge in October 2016;