Al-Qaeda in North Africa Appoints Leader to Replace Slain Droukdel

World

November 22nd, 7:33am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Abdelmalek Droukdel, aka Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in northern Mali before he was killed in a French operation. AFP file photo

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has chosen a new leader to replace Abdelmalek Droukdel, who was killed in June by French forces, the SITE monitoring group reported Saturday. Algerian Abu Obaida Yusuf al-Annabi, the head of AQIM's "Council of Dignitaries", was named as Droukdel's successor, SITE said. Al-Annabi has been on the American "international terrorist" blacklist since September 2015, according to the Counter Extremism Project. He has regularly appeared in the group's propaganda videos. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb emerged from a group started in the late 1990s by Algerian radicals, who in 2007 pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on troops and civilians across the Sahel region, including a 2016 attack on an upmarket hotel and restaurant in Burkina Faso that killed 30 people, mainly Westerners.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2639761/al-qaeda-north-africa-appoints-leader-replace-slain-droukdel