Rabat – French armed forces killed the leader of jihadist group Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, President Emmanuel Macron has revealed.
The French president announced the news of Al-Sahrawi’s killing on Wednesday night, calling it a “major success.”
“This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” Macron said.
Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui, chef du groupe terroriste État islamique au Grand Sahara a été neutralisé par les forces françaises. Il s’agit d’un nouveau succès majeur dans le combat que nous menons contre les groupes terroristes au Sahel.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2021
He added in another tweet: “Tonight, the Nation is thinking of all its heroes who died for France in the Sahel in the Serval and Barkhane operations, of the bereaved families, and of all its wounded. Their sacrifice is not in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue this fight.”
The Polisario-trained EIGS leader “died as a result of a strike by the Barkhane force,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly tweeted, hailing “a decisive blow against this terrorist group.”
“Our fight continues,” she said.
La Nation pense ce soir à tous ses héros morts pour la France au Sahel dans les opérations Serval et Barkhane, aux familles endeuillées, à tous ses blessés. Leur sacrifice n’est pas vain. Avec nos partenaires africains, européens et américains, nous poursuivrons ce combat.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2021
Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, a former member of the Polisario Front and jihadist movement Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), created the EIGS in 2015.
During a January 2020 summit on Sahel security in Pau, southwestern France, the French government and its African allies – particularly Sahel-Saharan states – designated the terrorist group as a “priority enemy” in the Sahel.
The Laayoune-born former Polisario operative Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was identified as being behind most of the attacks in the “three borders” region, a vast area with porous boundaries straddling Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
The area is a recurring target of attacks by two armed jihadist groups, namely the EIGS and the al-Qaeda affiliated “Support Group for Islam and Muslims” (GSIM).
The EIGS has proven to be particularly violent, targeting civilians and soldiers in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The extent of al-Sahrawi’s crimes had led to the US issuing a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts.
It targeted US soldiers in a deadly attack in October 2017, killing four US Special Forces soldiers and four Nigeriens troops in an ambush in Tongo Tongo, near Mali in southwestern Niger.
By the end of 2019, EIGS had conducted a series of large-scale attacks on military bases in Mali and Niger.
On August 9, 2020, the leader of the EIGS had personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and their Nigerien guide and driver in Niger.
Following eight years of significant involvement in the Sahel region, Emmanuel Macron announced a reduction of French military presence in the region in June of this year.
According to the French president, the killing or capture of several high-ranking EIGS members this week was the culmination of a series of successful operations led by the French Barkhane force.
France and its regional partners have ramped up their security cooperation, as part of a strategy targeted at the leaders and high ranking members of jihadist organizations, he said.
