Foreign Affairs

‘We Got Him!’: Leader Of ISIS Group Accused Of Killing 4 Troops Gets Killed, Announces French President

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An ISIS leader accused of killing four U.S. troops died in Mali, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.

ISIS Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) leader Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui was killed in a French drone strike between Aug. 17 and 22, CNN reported. Al Sahraoui claimed responsibility for an attack that killed four U.S. soldiers in Niger in 2017.

“Ladies and Gentlemen: We got him!!” Macron said in a Tweet early on Thursday morning.

Ladies and Gentlemen: We got him !! #alSahraoui pic.twitter.com/NTfphq9Wpp

— Emmanuel Macron ᵖᵃʳᵒᵈᶦᵉ 😷 🇫🇷 (@real_E_Macron) September 16, 2021

Al Sahraoui founded ISIS-GS after leaving an al Qaeda-linked group in Africa in 2015, according to CNN. ISIS-GS was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2018 by the U.S. State Department and a $5 million reward for information leading to al Sahraoui’s arrest was offered in 2019.

“Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui, leader of the terrorist group Islamic State in the Greater Sahara was neutralized by French forces,” Macron said in a Tweet. “This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen: We got him!!,” Macron said.

Attacks executed by Al Sahraoui targeted law enforcement officials and civilians in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, CNN reported. He “personally ordered” a deadly attack on six humanitarian workers, a driver and a guide in France.