The French army killed last Saturday in northern Mali a jihadist leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi).
This man, Baye ag Bakabo, was responsible for the kidnapping in November 2013 of two French journalists from RFI, murdered after being taken hostage, Armed Minister Florence Parly announced on Friday.
"On June 5, Barkhane's soldiers detected the preparation of a terrorist attack in Aguelhok, in northern Mali" and "eliminated four terrorists", including "Baye ag Bakabo, AQIM executive and responsible for the kidnapping of our fellow citizens ”Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, declared the minister, who“ today addresses all her thoughts to the families and relatives of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon ”.
Baye ag Bakabo was known since 2010 by the intelligence services "as being at the same time a bandit, a trafficker and a jihadist", noted the JeuneAfrique site in 2013. His responsibility in the kidnapping of journalists had been established by the use of his personal vehicle and by phone calls to AQIM officials.
#Mali according to several Baye Ag own sources #Bakabo #AQMI, involved in the hostage taking of journalists Ghislaine Dupont & Claude Verlon from @RFI in #Kidal on 2 Nov 2013, died following a French strike ~ 10 km south - is from # AguelHok pic.twitter.com/gTJf9GSt10
- Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) June 11, 2021
Claude Verlon, reporting technician, and his colleague Ghislaine Dupont, journalist at RFI, were kidnapped and then killed on November 2, 2013 while they were on a mission in Kidal in northern Mali.
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