Mali Claims Death of Terrorist Who Helped Lead Deadly Ambush in Niger

Mali said on Monday that it had killed a high-value Islamist commander who helped lead a 2017 attack in which four American and four Nigerien soldiers were killed alongside an interpreter.

The U.S. State Department had put a $5 million bounty on the head of the commander, Abu Huzeifa — a member of an affiliate of the Islamic State — after his participation in an attack in Tongo Tongo, Niger, on American Green Berets and their Nigerien comrades.

At that time, the attack was the largest loss of American troops during combat in Africa since the "Black Hawk Down" debacle in Somalia in 1993.

In a post on social media on Monday, Mali's armed forces said that on Sunday they had "neutralized a major terrorist leader of foreign nationality during a large-scale operation in Liptako" — a tri-border region that contains parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The three countries, all led by military juntas, have teamed up to fight extremist violence under a new partnership, the Alliance of Sahel States — something critics have said is an attempt to legitimize their grip on power.

Officials at the U.S. State and Defense Departments said on Tuesday that they were aware of the report of Abu Huzeifa's death, but were seeking more information.

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