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The French Defense Ministry reported on December 21 that his country’s troops in Niger killed Soumana Boura, considered one of the heads of the self-styled Islamic State in the Greater Sahel, in an airstrike. The extremist was accused of participating in the murder of six aid workers from France and two local employees in the African nation, in 2020.
France deals “a new great blow” against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, in the Greater Sahel, which in recent months has lost several of its leaders.
This was confirmed by the French Ministry of Defense, who confirmed an air attack by the French armed forces that killed Soumana Boura, a prominent leader of the extremist group.
The man was identified as one of the perpetrators of the murder of six aid workers of French origin and two local employees, which occurred in Niger, in August 2020.
Boura was killed by a bombing carried out on December 20 north of the city of Tillabéri, in the area known as the “three borders”, between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
The incident occurred in the middle of the so-called Operation Barkhane, carried out since 2013 in the Sahel by the French Armed Forces and the military of the allied countries in that African region.
According to official information, the attack was carried out after the troops on the ground located “a sanctuary zone” for the radical movement and there they identified the known terrorist. Then a command was sent by helicopter to check the result of the operation, the French ministry said.
The murders that shocked the French authorities
On August 9, 2020, a commando from the jihadist group traveling by motorcycle killed six French employees of the Niger-based NGO ACTED, and their guide and driver, local citizens, while visiting the Kouré reserve, which is home to groups. of giraffes, in the southwest of the country.
According to the French Defense Ministry, Boura was leading a group of dozens of active fighters of the jihadist group in the Gober Gourou and Firo region, in the west of the nation.
According to the Army General Staff, Soumana Boura was part of the command that carried out those murders, on the orders of the group’s emir, Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui, the man who was killed by Barkhane’s forces last August.
“He had filmed the execution and made sure of its coverage in the media,” said the French government about Boura’s involvement in the crime.
Ils étaient jeunes, engagés pour la solidarité internationale.
Je m’associe à l’hommage national surrender to our fellow assassins, with a particular thought for the family and the proches of Myriam and Stella who avaient des attaches ds notre region.pic.twitter.com/V3yWJj8Ch1– Carole Delga (@CaroleDelga) August 14, 2020
The Administration of French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that its elimination has a strong impact against the violent movement that has lost several of its leaders in recent months.
The French Army has increased the so-called “neutralizations” of the high command of the self-styled Islamic State in Niger and neighboring Mali. However, they have not yet succeeded in ending the activity of these armed groups in the Sahel.
Frustration has generated growing tensions between Paris and some leaders in the region, including the ruling junta in Bamako, especially over the latter’s rapprochement with Russia.
Last June, Macron announced the end of Operation Barkhane as it is known until now, so since then he began a reduction in the presence of his troops there.
However, Paris made reference to “an evolution” and not to a withdrawal, because it assured that it would open the way to an “international force”, whose composition is still unknown.
With Reuters and EFE
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