| Killing of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofOperation Barkhane in theMali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Islamic State in the Greater Sahara | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 20 men | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 10 killed | ||||||
Between August 17 to 21, 2021, French forces underOperation Barkhane launched an operation to attackIslamic State in the Greater Sahara bases located in the Dangalous forest near Indelimane village ofMali. The battle killed the commander of ISGS,Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi.[1]
Two Islamic State fighters captured on July 14 reported the presence ofISGS camps in the Dangarous Forest, a notoriously wooded area that is difficult to access.[1] On August 17, French intelligence conducted initial operations in the forest, with aReaper drone killing two armed men on a motorcycle.[2][1] One of the two killed turned out to be Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader ofIslamic State in the Greater Sahara, although this was not immediately identifiable.[3][2][4]
The second part of the operation was carried out between August 20 and August 22.[1][2] About twenty men, supported by drones and helicopters, intercepted two more men on motorcycles.[1] After a short firefight, the two men were killed. French forces then proceeded to launch airstrikes on ISGS positions inside the forest, which continued after the French soldiers retreated.[3]
According to the French government, ten jihadists were killed in the operation.[5]
On September 16, 2021, French presidentEmmanuel Macron released a statement saying that the leader of ISGS had been "neutralized" in a strike by French forces in August.[6][7] French Minister of DefenceFlorence Parly stated that the killing of al-Sahrawi "deals a decisive blow to the command of Daesh in the Sahel because ISGS will no doubt have difficulty replacing its emir with a figure of the same stature."[2]
