Last Updated on: 16th September 2021, 11:33 pm
Who is Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui? Biography, Wiki
French armed forces have killed Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui, head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS), French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter on Thursday, CNN reported.
French Army Minister Florence Parly tweeted on Thursday that military and intelligence agents had contributed to a “long-term hunt” against the head of the Islamic State GS, which she described as a “decisive blow” for the group.
“This is another great achievement in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” tweeted President Macron.
Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui’s Age
Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui’s age isn’t clear yet.
ISIS Chief Murdered in The Sahara
The al-Sahraui group is accused of killing the US and French troops in the troubled Sahel.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of the head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara on Wednesday and described the extremists’ assassination of Adnan Abu al-Walid al-Sahraoui as a “great success” for the French army after more than eight years of struggle in the Sahel.
Macron tweeted that al-Sahrawi was “neutralized by French forces” but did not elaborate on it.
Where Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui was killed was not disclosed, although the Islamic State group is active alongside Mali and Niger.
So who is al-Sahrawi and what does his death mean from a broader perspective?
His Early Life
Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui was born in Laayoune, Western Sahara, to a wealthy merchant family who fled the city in search of refugee camps in Algeria.
He joined the Polisario Front, a rebel movement for the national liberation of the Saharawi people (the Sahara) who claimed Western Sahara, controlled by Spain and Mauritania, and received military training.
In 2010 he joined Katiba Tarik ibn Zayd, an al-Qaeda unit in the Islamic Maghreb.
In 2015, al-Sahrawi is said to have declared allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and founded the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
