France Announces Killing of Key Jihadist Leader in the Sahel Region

The French anti-jihadist force Barkhane announced on Friday that it killed on Thursday in Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso, a key leader of a jihadist group specialized in planting homemade explosives. The force stated that it successfully "neutralized" Omaru Mobo Modi, whom it described as the leader of a network of improvised explosive device planters, in the Hombori area during an operation "in coordination" with the Malian and American armed forces. The term "neutralized" is used by the force to confirm the target's death. The U.S. military provides logistical and intelligence support to French forces in the Sahel region. Barkhane stated that "Omaru Mobo Modi was an important leader of the Ansar al-Islam group, directly linked to Jafar Diko, the emir of the group, and worked in the RN16 region (National Route 16) between Gossi and Gao, particularly overseeing the planting of improvised explosive devices," the preferred weapon of jihadists. They added that this "respected leader" could "lead about a hundred men to carry out large-scale attacks immediately." Ansar al-Islam was established in 2016 in Burkina Faso at the border with Mali, led by a Burkinabe named Ibrahim Malam Diko. This group, which first emerged in northern Burkina Faso, has connections to the Amadou Koufa group, which is aligned with Al Qaeda in the Sahel and operates in central Mali. It claimed responsibility for several attacks in northern Burkina Faso during the early years of its activities. The number of operations claimed by "Ansar al-Islam" has significantly decreased following Ibrahim Malam Diko's death. He was succeeded by his brother Jafar Diko. Experts on the conflict in the Sahel region indicated that members of the group have joined other jihadist organizations in the area, though there is no confirmed information on this locally. Central Mali is one of the main centers of conflict in the Sahel region. Sixteen Malian soldiers were killed there on Wednesday in an ambush attributed to jihadists.