French Armed Forces Minister on Friday tweeted: “On June 3, French army forces, with the support of their local partners, killed the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and several of his closest collaborators, during an operation in northern Mali.”
Droukdel was al-Qaeda's north Africa chief, a key fighter who its forces had been hunting for more than seven years
There was no immediate confirmation of his death from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM. With several high profiles and deadly attacks to its name, AQIM was the dominant force in the region until 2013, when it fractured as many fighters flocked to ISIL as it seized territory in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
The group remained active in north Africa's largest desert and often scarcely governed Sahel region. In Mali, it focused its activities to the north in Libya and Tunisia. As ISIL waned, the group has sought to lure new talent from among ISIL veterans.
Droukdel, who was believed to be hiding in the mountains of northern Algeria, was among North Africa's most experienced militants. He took part in an Islamist militant takeover of northern Mali before a French military intervention in 2013 drove them back and scattered fighters across the Sahel region.
About six months ago, France, a former colonial power in the region combined military forces with regional states under one command structure to focus on fighting Islamic State-linked militants in the border regions of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute in March released a video that showed, Droukdel urging governments of the Sahel region to try to end the French military presence, calling the troops “armies of occupation”.
