French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the media that Freanch soldiers have killed about 40 Islamist fighters, including some senior commanders, in Mali in recent weeks.
He said “We have conducted operations over the past weeks and about 40” fighters had been killed including “Ould Hamaha
Omar Ould Hamaha is also known as “Red Beard”. He was a commander of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and AQIM, armed groups which occupied northern Mali for almost ten months in 2012. Mali was thrown into chaos in 2012 when Tuareg separatist rebels launched an offensive in the northern desert helped by AQIM and MUJAO, after the country’s president was toppled in a coup.
The Islamists took control of northern Mali, ruling it under a brutal version of Islamic law until former colonial ruler France sent in troops to flush them out in January 2013
