| Battle of Talahandak | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMali War | |||||||
 An overhead shot of the killing of Abu Musab Abdul-Wadood. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France United States(technical assistance) |  Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Abdelmalek Droukdel † | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 4 killed 1 captured | ||||||
  Location within Mali | |||||||
TheBattle of Talahandak took place on 3 June 2020 during theMali War. It resulted in the death ofAbdelmalek Droukdel, the leader ofal-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
On 1 June 2020, with aid from theCIA and theDGSE,French special forces closely working withOperation Barkhane identified that Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of AQIM, was present in the area aroundTessalit, Mali.[1][2][3] After the scanning operation, French general staff declared that after two days of electromagnetic signal scanning, they identified that a target of interest was in the region.[4]
On 3 June, the operation was launched by operators of theFrench Special Operations Command to eliminate Abdelmalek Droukdel.
The AQIM group was composed of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of AQIM, Toufik Chaib, a senior leader of AQIM in charge of propaganda and coordination withJama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).[3][5][4] They were accompanied by three AQIM jihadists.[3][5] They drove a whiteSUV, in which they stopped near a small heap of stones, and set up abivouac in thewadi of Ourdjane, between two and five kilometres south of the village of Talahandak, which in itself is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of the village of Tessalit, and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from theAlgerian border.[3][6] Based on accounts from theAgence France-Presse, the area was described as a crossroads for truckers, who sometimes wait for several weeks the border with Algeria to be opened, as well as a "hotspot for migrant trafficking", according to aUN expert in Mali.[7]
The operation was launched by 15 French special operators with twoCaracal helicopters, oneTiger attack helicopter, aGazelle helicopter and anMQ-9 Reaper drone.[8][9] Because of the weather conditions in the area, French special forces had to operate on the ground during daylight.[3][4]
During the beginning of the clashes, the AQIM command attempted to flee from the encounter. However, they were forced to attempt a counterattack against the French special forces, leading to a subsequent close quarter firefight. Four AQIM jihadists were killed, including Droukdel and Chaib, while the driver of the white SUV surrendered, and was taken captive by the French army.[1][5][3][4]
On 5 June 2020, the Minister of the Armed Forces,Florence Parly, announced through herTwitter account the death of Abdelmalek Droukdel, and declared that the "essential fight for peace and stability in the region has just been a major success".[10][11] TheUnited States Africa Command (AFRICOM) indicated that it had confirmation of the death of Droukdel through their own means.[3] According toFrance 24's journalist Wassim Nasr, Droukdel's death is also confirmed by sources close to AQIM.[12] AQIM officially acknowledged the death of its leader in a video published almost two weeks later.[13]
The French army declared that they do not know how long Abdelmalek Droukdel had been in Mali, but journalist Wassim Nasr said that according to AQIM sources, Droukdel was on his way to a meeting withIyad Ag Ghaly, the head of JNIM.[3]Le Monde indicates that according to an official French source, it had not been long since Abdelmalek was in Mali, without knowing if it was because of movement constrained by the events in Algeria or if it was deliberately in line with AQIM's development, they had information for a month that the AQIM staff was heading towards the north of Mali. This led Droukdel to expose himself to intelligence agencies.[14]