Mali Attacks Al-Queda Fighters Killing 16

Image via Wikipedia

The African nation of Mali reports that their army has killed 16 or more Al-Queda fighters in a raid near the Algerian border.

The attack on Tuesday at Garn-Akassa, west of the Tessalit oasis in Mali's north, was the first time the army specifically targeted Al-Qaeda members on Malian turf. During the raid, government soldiers captured the base, a security source said, adding: "We counted 26 of the enemy killed.

Some were buried by their own people in a common grave before they fled. "It's the group of (Abdelhamid) Abou Zeid," the source said, adding: "We will continue to hunt them down."

An independent source confirmed the raid, saying the armed forces had taken control of an area formerly in the hands of Salafists. However he disputed the number of casualties. "The toll we have for the moment is 16 dead," he said.

The same source said that the army was believed to have suffered some casualties of its own after one of its vehicles struck a mine, but there was no confirmation from the army. The attack targeted extends its range into nations on the southern edge of the Sahara and has claimed several attacks in the region.

Two weeks ago, sources in the Malian interior ministry said they would start a "ruthless battle against terrorist groups".The hardline stance came after US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence said Al-Qaeda's north African branch had posted an online statement saying it killed British hostage Edwin Dyer on May 31.

The execution marked the first time that Al-Qaeda's north African branch had killed a Western hostage, observers said. Mali reacted by announcing that cross-border patrols in conjunction with security personnel from neighbouring states would be stepped up.

Edwin Dyer was among six Westerners kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the Sahel region in December and January. He was captured in Niger while returning from a desert festival celebrating Tuareg culture in Mali.

Two Canadian diplomats and two European tourists were released in April and flown to Bamako, but Dyer and Swiss national Werner Greiner remained in captivity. Greiner is believed to still be in the hands of the kidnappers who are thought to be the group around Abou Zeid.

Abou Zeid, also known as Abib Hammadou, 43, is listed on United Nations documents as a known Al-Qaeda member. The Malian authorities have described Algerian-born Abou Zeid as violent and brutal. He is believed to have been the right-hand man of a former leader of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

According to security sources, the Islamists killed on Tuesday include "commanders and most likely one or two of the people responsible for the death of a Malian officer killed last week in Timbuktu."

Lieutenant-Colonel Lamana Ould Bou, a senior Malian security official who played a key role in the arrest of several Al-Qaeda members in Mali, was gunned down in his living room by suspected members of the group on Wednesday last week.

Sphere: Related Content