Paris, Feb 25, 2019 – French warplanes struck a group of jihadists in central Mali over the weekend, killing or wounding 15 of them, the defence ministry in Paris said Monday. The raid — the second in 48 hours — took place north of Mopti on Saturday evening, as French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Defence Minister Florence Parly were visiting Mali. The defence ministry did not specify how many jihadists were killed and how many wounded, saying only they were “put out of action”. In addition to French troops, around 15,000 peacekeepers have been deployed in the country as part of the United Nations’ stabilisation mission, known as MINUSMA. Okacha, a jihadist veteran known also as Yahya Abou El Hamame, was “the mastermind and financier of several attacks,” the defence ministry said.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 25, 2019 17:03 UTC