France said it had killed Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the Islamic State leader responsible for the killing of four U.S. servicemen in Niger in 2017
The Islamic State franchise in Sahel “had very tight ties with their mother ship in the Middle East” for propaganda, military training and bombmaking, said Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum in a recent interview.
The Tongo Tongo killings put a $5 million U.S. government bounty on al-Sahrawi’s head, making him one of the most wanted men in Africa. In his six years as leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, or ISGS, the group emerged as a rival to more entrenched al Qaeda affiliates in the region. Al-Sahrawi built the group’s political and financial power, using funds to buy weapons, win the loyalty of local tribesmen and pay fighters and administrators’ wages in the areas it controls.
Hunted by several Western governments, al-Sahrawi remained elusive by constantly moving across a huge geography. At a secret meeting with Mr. Jibril, the Islamic State defector, the jihadist leader arrived on a Honda motorbike, surrounded by just three escorts, and stood under a hastily erected patch of rainproof tarpaulin. “I am the head of the Islamic State in Mali and all the way to Niger,” he announced. “I am the one calling the shots with the[Islamic State battalions].
But the jihadist leader was increasingly targeted by France after personally ordering the killing of six French charity workers and their Nigerian driver, said French Defense Minister Florence Parly.
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