[ad_1]
Drukdel was shot dead on Thursday near the Algerian border. There are AQMI bases in the region, from which jihadists carried out attacks and kidnappings of Westerners in the Sahel, Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Friday.
According to her, the operation also “neutralized” many of Drukdel’s “close associates,” who led various related groups in a region under the control of the central government.
AQMI evolved from a group founded in the late 1990s by radical Algerian Islamists who pledged allegiance in 2007 to the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda.
The group claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on soldiers and civilians in Sahel, including a 2016 attack on a luxury hotel and restaurant in Burkina Faso. This time 30 people died, mostly western citizens.
France has deployed more than 5,000 operations against local jihadist groups in the region, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
Clashes between rival armed groups often occur in northern Mali. This area is also an active focus of jihadist activity.
In 2012, jihadists from groups linked to al Qaeda took control of several cities in the region, taking advantage of an uprising led by local Tuareg. This situation caused the intervention of the forces led by France.
According to the United Nations, A. Drukdelis was an expert in explosives, and the explosive devices he manufactured took hundreds of civilian lives during the attacks.
In 2013, he was sentenced to death in Algeria for his role in blowing up a government building and an office of the UN Refugee Committee in the country’s capital. 26 people died and 177 others were injured in the attacks.
The United States said it had provided intelligence to help locate Drukdel. He was shot in the Talhandak area northwest of the city of Thessaly.
“The United States headquarters in Africa was able to provide intelligence assistance … and help identify the target,” Colonel Chris Karns, a spokesman for the headquarters, told CNN.
[ad_2]
