French military kills senior jihadist leader in Mali

PARIS, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Ahmed el Tilemsi, a senior jihadist leader in northern Mali, was killed Wednesday night in a French military operation coordinated with Malian forces in the Gao region, officials in Paris announced Thursday.

"One of the things that proves he was a senior chief (in the group) is that when he got killed ... he was accompanied by a dozen (fighters) who were also ensuring his security," French Defense Ministry spokesman Sacha Mandel said.

Tilemsi, a former al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb member and co-founder of the breakaway Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, was designated a global terrorist by the U.S. Department of State in 2012.

According to the U.S. government, Tilemsi was involved in kidnapping two French nationals in Niamey, Niger, in January 2011.

The French military "acted in coordination with Malian authorities" to conduct Wednesday's raid, said Col. Gilles Jaron, a spokesman for the French Army's chief of staff. The raid was part of Operation Barkhane, a France-led effort to counter extremism in the region.

"Operation Barkhane," Jarron noted, "is an operation that never stops."

The announcement of Tilemsi's death comes two days after French hostage Serge Lazarevic was released by Islamist militants in Mali in exchange for than handover of two imprisoned AQIM militants.