World
12:36, 28-Aug-2018
France says it kills top ISIL official in Mali operation
Updated
12:19, 31-Aug-2018
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France said on Monday it had killed a top official from ISIL's affiliate in West Africa in an operation in Mali that also killed another member of the group and two civilians.
The French defense ministry, in a statement, named him as Mohamed Ag Almouner, saying he was one of the top officials of the ISIL in the Greater Sahara. It did not name the second member of the group, also killed in the operation.
The ministry said two civilians - a woman and a teenager – were killed in the operation carried out on Sunday. Two other civilians and a member of the ISIL's affiliate group were also injured, the statement said.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (C) and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) share lunch with soldiers during a visit to the troops of France's Barkhane counter-terrorism operation in Africa's Sahel region, February 19, 2016 in Gao, northern Mali. /VCG Photo
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (C) and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) share lunch with soldiers during a visit to the troops of France's Barkhane counter-terrorism operation in Africa's Sahel region, February 19, 2016 in Gao, northern Mali. /VCG Photo
It said it regretted the civilians' death.
France has deployed around 4,000 troops in West Africa's Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane aimed at combating Islamist militants in the region.
(Cover: A soldier of France's Barkhane force holds a Famas assault rifle as he patrols in central Mali, November 1, 2017, at the border zone with Burkina Faso and Niger. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters