The operations, which occurred alongside French special forces, were to reportedly kill or capture Abu Walid al Sahrawi, the leader of the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
After almost one month of media silence, al Qaeda’s JNIM returns to social media to claim responsibility for a complex assault on UN forces near the northern Malian city of Kidal.
The al Qaeda group continues to target French forces in northern Mali, as well as conduct attacks on Malian and UN troops elsewhere in the country.
The suicide assault left at least seven dead, another 17 wounded, and a further 16 missing. This comes just a week after another eight Malian troops were killed in an ambush in southern Mali.
The suicide bombing, which left at least 50 people dead, is one of the largest terrorist attacks in Mali’s history.
