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French forces kill two senior Islamist insurgents in Mali

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

French troops killed two "important terrorist chiefs" from the groups of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar Eddine in northern Mali, the French defense ministry announced Wednesday.

In a statement posted on its website, the ministry announced the death of Amada Ag Hama, also known as Abdelkrim the Touareg, and Ibrahim Ag Inawalen, alias "Bana", during an overnight operation between May 17 and 18.

Two other terrorists were also killed during the fighting, the ministry added without giving further details on their identities.

"These two groups are responsible for many terrorist attacks targeting international forces and repeated violence against the Malian population," the ministry said.

In 2013, France launched a U.N.-backed military intervention to oust Al Qaeda-linked militants from towns in northern Mali which they had seized a year earlier.

With African countries' support, Paris deployed about 3,000 troops to the Sahel region where they combat extremist insurgents. Endit