French Forces Kill Militant Commander in Mali

World

November 13th, 10:07am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A French soldier conducts an area control operation in Ndaki, Mali. Reuters file photo

France announced Friday that its anti-militant force in Mali had killed the military commander of an Al-Qaeda-aligned group linked to attacks in the region. The killing of Ba Ag Moussa is a major boost for the thousands-strong French Barkhane force stationed in the Sahel region of Africa for over half a decade in a grinding fight against multiple extremist groups who are often also fighting each other. Symbolically, it was also announced on the five-year anniversary of the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris by gunmen and suicide bombers that were France's worst ever peacetime atrocity. Defense Minister Florence Parly hailed the operation involving helicopters and ground troops that "neutralized" Ba Ag Moussa, described as the military commander of the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM). Ag Moussa, alias 'Bamoussa', is "believed responsible for several attacks against Malian and international forces," she said in a statement. "He is considered one of the top military militants in Mali, in charge in particular of the training of new recruits." Last June, French forces in Mali killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the rival extremist group to GSIM. Observers have noted that the killing of Droukdel was a symbolic victory more than anything else as the prominent Algerian militant was no longer involved in ground operations and his death did not change the security situation. The killing of Ag Moussa could thus be even more significant.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2623231/french-forces-kill-militant-commander-mali