The French bombardment which took place in November in Libya, with the help of US intelligence, Probably the Jihadist …
France, aided by the United States, recently conducted an airstrike in Libya against the Algerian jihadist of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who was probably killed, according to a US official
The US official confirmed reports in the Wall Street Journal. The entourage of French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is visiting Washington on Monday, declined to share to comment.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran of jihadism agreed with Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), nicknamed “Le Borgne”, has already been given up for dead many times, including in June 2015 during a US strike in Libya, and 2013.
The french bombardment which endorsed it took place in November, with the help of US intelligence.
According to the Wall Street Journal, US officials believe that the strike “has probably been successful”, “given the caliber intelligence “available.
Head of al-mourabitoun group that has conducted numerous bloody attacks in the Sahel region, it is one of the most wanted Islamic extremist leaders of the region. It argues for a grand coalition with jihadists Niger, Chad and Libya. According to the US daily, typing illustrates the extent of military cooperation and intelligence between the United States and France.
After the attacks in Paris in November 2015, President Obama announced an enhanced exchange of information between the French and American intelligence services. The Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian happened to be in Washington on Monday for what will be probably the last big meeting with Pentagon chief Ashton Carter before the start of this one, in January.
” with its ups and downs, the alliance between France and the United States is deeply rooted in our history. It has demonstrated its strength on many occasions, “said Mr Le Drian, in a speech to Carter’s side.
But Mr Le Drian made no reference to a strike against Mokhtar Belmokhtar. Carter and Le Drian include signing an “arrangement” in military space cooperation.
Sentenced to death
The United States had put the head of Mokhtar Belmothtar price for five million dollars.
The man is a veteran of jihadism. Born in June 1972 in Ghardaia (Algeria), the gateway to the Sahara, he fought very young in Afghanistan in 1991, where he lost an eye, hence its nickname, “the One-eyed”.
He was part of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA, dismantled in 2005) and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a division of GIA supported by bin Laden, who became the AQIM, and with whom he talks conflicting reports.
The AQIM the destituera in 2012 for insubordination. In 2013, it merged with its armed group Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a jihadist training in northern Mali covered by Serval French operation, launched in January 2013.
Al-mourabitoun, the new group which he headed, formalizes his support for AQIM in December 2015.
Sentenced to death twice by the Algerian justice, Belmokhtar had ordered the killing of four French in Mauritania in December 2007 and kidnapping two Canadians in 2008, and three Spaniards and two Italians in 2009.
According to his entourage, Mr Le Drian also had to meet in the afternoon General Michael Flynn, the future national security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump .
