French special forces kill 30 extremists in Mali

France’s anti-terrorism forces in Mali have killed at least 30 al Qaedalinked extremists in central Mali, including the possible death of a chief jihadi leader, France’s armed forces ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said the attack combined air strikes, Reaper drones, helicopter assaults and ground engagement by French soldiers.

Chief jihadist leader Hamadoun Kouffa and other main leaders of the Katibat Macina jihadist group are probably among the dead, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Twitter.

Kouffa is the head of Katibat Macina, a predominantly Fulani jihadist group that is part of a group of al Qaeda-linked militants known by the acronym JNIM.

The action comes as part of Operation Barkhane, France’s largest overseas military deployment with 3000 French troops in the Sahel region.

“The operation conducted this night is a serious blow to a particularly brutal terrorist organisation, which has repeatedly targeted civilians and symbols of the authority of the Malian state,” the minister said.

The announcement comes weeks after the killing of another jihadist head, Tuareg leader Almansour Ag Alkassoum, a deputy leader of the al Qaeda-linked coalition who led a jihadist unit based in the Gourma region between Timbuktu and Mopti.