France says that the leader of the militant group IS in the Greater Sahara has been killed in an operation by French troops.
President Emmanuel Macron in a tweet on Thursday announced that Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was killed by French forces.
“This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” said Macron.
Macron did not disclose the location or any details of the operation.
Meanwhile, French Defence Minister Florence Parly tweeted that France’s Operation Barkhane force which operates against militants in the Sahel killed Sahrawi adding that it was “a decisive blow against this terrorist group.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for the information of Sahrawi who was wanted for a deadly attack on US soldiers and other aid workers.
Sahrawi, who was born in disputed Western Sahara in 1973, and had been a member of the Polisario Front which is fighting for independence from Morocco.
Sahrawi was also a former member of Al-Qaeda and co-led Mujao, a Malian militant group responsible for kidnapping Spanish aid workers in Algeria and a group of Algerian diplomats in Mali in 2012.
Earlier in Niger on August 9, 2020, the leader of ISGS had ordered the slaughter of six French aid workers along with their Niger guides and drivers.
