The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MOJWA) or the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MUJWA; Arabic: جماعة التوحيد والجهاد في غرب أفريقيا Jamāʿat at-tawḥīd wal-jihād fī gharb ʾafrīqqīyā;[3] French: Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest, abbreviated MUJAO), was a militant Islamist organisation that broke off from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb with the intended goal of spreading jihad across a larger section of West Africa, as well as demanding the expulsion of all French interests (especially military and resources) that operate in West Africa, which they regard as "colonialist occupiers".

[6] MOJWA released a video that referenced their ideological affinity for such figures as Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but placed greater emphasis on historical figures of West African origin, claiming to be the "ideological descendants" of Cheikhou Amadou, Usman Dan Fodio and El Hadj Umar Tall.

[8] Following the Battle of Gao, MOJWA warned that it would not hesitate to attack any countries or personnel that would be involved in an invasion force within the Azawad region.

[4][5] Mauritanian Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou is believed by the local media to be the first chief of the group, as the principal speaker on 12 December 2011 video.

[11][12] Omar Ould Hamaha was MOJWA's military commander ("chief of staff"),[13] before being killed by French security forces in March 2014.

[14] The first appearance of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa was on 22 October 2011, when the group kidnapped three western aid workers from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.

[15][16] On 3 March 2012, MOJWA claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing at a paramilitary police base in Tamanrasset that resulted in injuries to 10 soldiers and one civilian, some of whom were in serious condition.

[17] In March 2014, Malian military sources reported that Omar Ould Hamaha and Abu Walid Sahraoui had been killed by a French air strike in the northeast.

[22] Three days later, it issued a statement that read the hostages were being treated well "according to Sharia law" and they asked for the liberation of imprisoned members of MOJWA in Algeria in exchange for the consular staff, according to sources mentioned by the Algerian newspaper Echorouk.

Omar Ould Hamaha said that the group had an agreement with the Ganda Iso to govern the town, but had then decided to take it over when the militia appeared to be acting independently.