France says it has killed Islamic State leader in Greater Sahara

Vergennes · Sep 16, 2021

Emmanuel Macron has said French military forces have killed the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, claiming “another major success” in the fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel.

The French president, who recently moved to reduce French troop deployment in the troubled sub-Saharan region amid broad consensus that the intervention was not achieving its aim, gave no further details in his statement on Wednesday night, though he mentioned French casualties.

“This evening, the nation’s thoughts are with all its heroes who have died in the Sahel for France … with the grieving families, with all its wounded. Their sacrifice has not been in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue our efforts in this battle.”

Sahrawi was the historic leader of Islamic State in the Sahel region of west Africa and his group targeted US soldiers in a deadly attack in Niger in 2017, Macron’s office said.

In August 2020, the extremist leader personally ordered the killing of six French charity workers and their Nigerien driver, it added.

Sahrawi pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2015, and was accepted as its leader in the borderlands of Mali and Niger the following year.

Macron recently said France’s deployment of more than 4,000 troops in Mali would soon be dramatically scaled down, with the remnants merged into a broader international mission. The force has been stationed in the country for almost a decade and has struggled to stem the expansion of the territory contested by groups linked to IS and al-Qaida.