Question: At the end of October 2020 French forces had killed more than 50 Al-Qaeda jihadists in –
a) Paris
b) Mali
c) Islamabad
d) UAE
Answer: (b)
Related Facts:-
- On 30 October 2020; the French forces had killed more than 50 jihadists aligned to Al-Qaeda in airstrikes in central Mali.
- The French forces conducted the operation near the borders of Burkina Faso and Niger.
- It should be known that French troops in this part of the world are struggling to rout an Islamic insurgency.
- French Defence Minister Florence Parly said after meeting members of Mali’s transitional government.
- French Defence Minister Florence Parly informed that on October 30 in Mali, the Barkhane force conducted an operation to neutralise jihadists.
- Government forces confiscated a huge amount of arms and material from the area.
- This is also known as French-led anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane.
- The Defence Minister said that the operation was launched after a drone detected a very large motorcycle caravan in the three borders area.
- Jihadists moved under trees to escape surveillance but the French force sent in two Mirage jets and a drone to launch missiles, leading to the “neutralisation” of the insurgents.
- Explosives and a suicide vest had been found, he told reporters in a conference call, saying that the group had been “about to attack (an army) position in the region”.
- Another operation also underway by French forces this time targeting the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, with the participation of a total of 3,000 soldiers.
- A significant blow to the Ansarul Islam group:
- Airstrike undertaken by French forces made a significant blow to the Ansarul Islam group which was linked to Al-Qaeda via the GSIM alliance led by Iyad Ag Ghaly.
- After the death of the Qaeda commander Abdelmalek Droukdel, who was killed by French forces in Mali in June 2020, Ghaly has emerged as a top jihadist leader in the Sahel.
- The United Nations has some 13,000 troops deployed in Mali as part of its peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA.
- France has 5,100 deployed in the Sahel region.
- Mali has been struggling to contain a brutal jihadist insurgency which first emerged in the north of the country in 2012.
By – Rajesh Tripathi