Officials with U.S. Africa Command Saturday confirmed the death of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the emir of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), citing an independent assessment of a June 3 operation led by France.
"On June 3, French army forces, with the support of their local partners, killed the emir of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and several of his closest collaborators, during an operation in northern Mali," she said.
The French, along with partner forces, finally caught up to Droukdel this past week with help from the U.S., which provided intelligence and surveillance support to "fix the target," according to AFRICOM.
Even with Droukdel's death, however, French, U.S. and African officials remain concerned that AQIM and other jihadist terror groups are growing, taking advantage of economic and political turmoil across parts of West Africa and the Sahel.
French officials, however, have urged the U.S. to keep some forces in Africa, stressing that some U.S. assets cannot be replaced, including the intelligence and surveillance capabilities that help lead to the death of AQIM's Droukdel.
