Mali Forces Kill Senior Islamic State Commander in Regional Operation

Malian forces have killed a senior Islamic State commander, Abu Huzeifa, during a joint security operation with Burkina Faso and Niger, VOA reported yesterday.

Huzeifa, a Moroccan national, was wanted for acts of terrorism and the deaths of civilians and security officers, including four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger in 2017.

The Malian military government announced the killing on Monday, stating that Huzeifa had a $5 million bounty on his head. Oluwole Ojewale, a regional coordinator at the Senegal-based Institute of Security Studies, said the killing of a terror commander is “a symbolic victory” for the Malian junta, particularly as they seek to justify their continued rule following a military coup.

However, experts warn that the death of a single leader does not necessarily signal the decline of terrorist groups in the Sahel region. As David Otto of the Geneva Center for Africa Security and Strategic Studies noted, “If he had all the power, then of course, it would disrupt at a strategic level and may have some operational impact negative to what the group wants to achieve. But if he were to have commanders that were already in line of succession, then of course it’s just going to be a new replacement.”

The killing comes amid a backdrop of worsening security and human rights conditions in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where political freedoms have been increasingly restricted under military rule. Ojewale warned that the junta may use this operation to “justify their stay in power” and further suppress critical voices.