France Troops Kill Top al-Qaida leader in Mali

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) –
France said Friday its forces had killed the top leader of the al-Qaida terror group in Mali known for killing civilians, including many Christians.

Bah ag Moussa, a military leader of al Qaeda’s North Africa wing, was killed during an operation in northeastern Mali, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said.

The former Malian army colonel, also known as Bamoussa Diarra, was a right-hand man of Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of Mali’s most prominent jihadi group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).

“A historical figure of the jihadist movement in the Sahel, Bah ag Moussa is considered responsible for several attacks against Malian and international forces,” Parly said in a statement.

Moussa, who was on the U.S. terrorism list, was killed on Tuesday after an operation involving ground troops and helicopters, the minister added.
Former colonial power France has more than 5,100 personnel spread across the region, with a large portion in Mali operating against rising militancy. The announcement follows a series of operations that have seen French forces kill dozens of Islamist fighters in recent weeks.

CHRISTIANS ATTACKED

The JNIM has repeatedly attacked soldiers and civilians in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso. They often singled out Christians, killing scores of mainly Christian farmers this year alone, several sources told Worthy News.

And recently, the murder of Swiss evangelical missionary Beatrice Stöckli by Islamic militants in Mali prompted aid workers to appeal for prayers for the troubled West African nation. Aid group Barnabas Fund said Stöckli was killed in Mali in September after JNIM kidnapped her four years.

Last year in March, more than 100 people were killed in attacks by Islamic militants. Most of the victims were Christians, according to Christian investigators.

In June 2019, over 90 people died in attacks in Sobame Da, a mainly Christian village in central Mali’s Mopti region, according to advocacy group Open Doors.

Since 2016, jihadists have fought to occupy north and central Mali to establish ‘sharia,’ or Islamic law, throughout the African country. It also serves as a base for terror attacks elsewhere in the region and the wider world.

Despite the dangers, there are close to half a million Christians in Mali, a mainly Muslim nation of 20 million people, according to Christian rights investigators.

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