A leader of an armed group allied to the Malian authorities has been killed after having participated in the slaying of an Islamic State group official, his movement said in a statement seen by AFP Tuesday.
Ismaguil Ag Arahmat, a military leader of the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA), was killed by unidentified armed individuals in the northern city of Gao on Monday evening, the statement said.
In April, Ag Arahmat took part in the killing of Abou Houzeifa, a senior member of the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) group fighting Bamako’s forces in the north and east of the country.
Ag Arahmat was “cowardly murdered this (Monday) evening by individuals on motorbikes near his home in Gao”, the MSA statement said.
An official from the movement, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed Ag Arahmat’s death on “terrorists”, without giving AFP further details.
A Gao governorate official, also requesting anonymity, confirmed the death and said he would be buried on Tuesday.
Ag Arahmat had been MSA’s regional military coordinator in Gao and nearby Menaka.
A photo posted on social media after the killing of Abou Houzeifa showed Ag Arahmat armed and next to what was presented as the body of a Moroccan militant killed during an operation in Menaka.
Mali has since 2012 been plunged into a political and security crisis fuelled by attacks from militant and other armed groups, as well as a separatist struggle in the north.
The MSA combats alongside the Malian army.
The city of Gao, controlled by the Malian army and allied groups, is generally relatively untouched by the violence in the north.