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We've killed Isis chief in Sahara, say French

FRENCH forces have killed the head of Islamic State (Isis) in the Greater Sahara in revenge for terrorist attacks, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday night.

Mr Macron said that Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi had personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and their driver and guide, who were Nigerien citizens, last year. The killings were claimed at the time by Isis.

He said the group had also carried out a 2017 attack that killed four US soldiers and four more from Nigeria.

The Isis chief was taken out in a strike several weeks ago, according to French Defence Minister Florence Parly, but authorities had since been trying to confirm that the victim was him. 

French troops have led an eight-year military mission – known as Operation Barkhane – in the Sahel region of north-west Africa. Its supposed aim is to suppress terrorist activity following the Tuareg uprising in Mali in 2013 led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. The group initially allied with but later fought Islamist militias.

But critics say the long French deployment has destabilised the region – both Mali and Guinea have seen military coups this year, the president of Chad was killed in combat and terror attacks have escalated across the whole of the Sahel.

Isis was reported recently to be poised for major expansion in the region, having reportedly inflicted serious defeats on its Nigerian rival Boko Haram and killed its leader Abubakar Shekau.

Meanwhile, French forces have been accused by the United Nations of committing war crimes against civilians.

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