PARIS – France has hailed the killing of the head of Al-Qaeda’s North Africa wing in an operation against the group behind a string of deadly attacks across the troubled Sahel region.
Abdelmalek Droukdel was killed by French troops on Thursday in northern Mali near the Algerian border, where the group has bases it uses to carry out bombings and abductions of Westerners, Defence Minister Florence Parly said.
Many close associates of the Algerian — who commanded several groups under the banner of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) — were also “neutralised”, she said on Friday, describing the operation as a “major success.” (AFP)
