Al-Qaeda warlord in north Africa, Abdelmalek Droukdel, is pronounced dead by French authorites after an operation in Mali.
Defence Minister Florence Parly said Droukdel along with members of his inner circle were neutralised in the north of the country on June 3.
French forces had also captured a senior Islamic State group commander in Mali in anther operation in May, she said.
The Minister described actions as “daring operations” had dealt “severe blows to the terrorist groups”.
Droukdel was in charge of all the al-Qaeda affiliates in north Africa and also commanded al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which has been active in the north of Mali and Burkina Faso.
The captured Islamic State group commander, Mohamed Mrabat, was a jihadist was a long recored and had a senior role in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group, she said.
ISGS has been active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
AFRICA DIPLOMATIC 