Mali forces kill senior figure in Islamic State affiliate

A senior Islamic State group commander wanted in connection with the deaths of US forces in Niger was killed in an operation by Malian state forces, the country’s military said.

Abu Huzeifa , known under the pseudonym Higgo , was a commander in the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara . The US State Department had announced a reward of up to $5 million for information concerning him.

Huzeifa is suspected of helping lead a 2017 attack on U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo , Niger , that resulted in the deaths of four Americans and four Nigerien soldiers. Following this attack, the American army reduced its operations with its local partners in the Sahel.

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