AQIM confirms leader’s death
AQIM has released an audio message confirming the death of its longtime emir, Abdulmalek Droukdel.
AQIM has released an audio message confirming the death of its longtime emir, Abdulmalek Droukdel.
French and American officials say the emir of AQIM, Abdelmalek Droukdel (a.k.a. Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud), was killed in a counterterrorism operation in northern Mali on June 3. The U.S. military supported the French-led operation.
Al Qaeda’s branch in West Africa, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, has released a statement saying it is willing to meet with the Malian government — but only after French and allied forces withdraw from the area.
Al-Qaeda’s senior leadership released a statement praising the jihadists in Mali and elsewhere in Western Africa for confronting the “Crusaders.” Al-Qaeda’s management team encourages them to dismantle the “French and American project” across the region.
Abu Abdul Rahman al Sanhaji’s death, if confirmed, follows the death of several other high-profile JNIM leaders over the past two years.
The photo marks the first sign of life for the group since 2017 and the first official publication since 2015.
If confirmed, this would represent another major blow to al Qaeda’s Uqba bin Nafi Battalion.
Two leaders of al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a Moroccan national and a local Malian, were designated as terrorists today.