Macron says French forces killed the leader of the Islamic State in the Sahara

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French President Emmanuel Macron is seen before the arrival of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (not seen) for a working lunch at Fontainebleau Castle in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France. on September 15, 2021. REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS, Sept. 16 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that French military forces had killed Islamic militant Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

“It is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” Macron said in a tweet, without revealing the location of the operation.

The Sahrawi was the historic leader of the Islamic State in the Sahel region in West Africa and his group led U.S. soldiers in a deadly attack in 2017, Macron’s office said. In August 2020, Sahrawis personally ordered the killing of six French charity workers and their Nigerian driver, he added.

Macron said in July that France would soon begin reforming its force in the Sahel, where it has been at the forefront of the fight against Islamist militants, and would eventually halve its military presence.

Without an apparent end in view of France’s operations and political turmoil, especially in Mali, Paris had been frustrated.

Report by Michel Rose; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Cynthia Osterman

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