PARIS: France said Friday that its forces had killed two senior leaders of the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) group in Mali in an attack coordinated with the US.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the attack hit a camp in the Menaka region of the west African nation overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
Issa al-Sahraoui, ISGS’ “logistics and finance coordinator”, and Abu Abderahman al-Sahraoui, “in charge of issuing judgements”, were both killed, she added.
She said that Issa al-Sahraoui had taken part in a December 2019 attack in western Niger in which 71 Nigerien soldiers died.
The strike on the camp where the two were living had been ordered “on very short notice” based on intelligence, Parly added.
France’s defence ministry said the strike showed its “determination to continue the fight against armed terrorist groups” — even as Paris plans to reduce its military presence after eight years in the Sahel region.
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