ALGIERS - French forces in Mali have killed Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, a leading field commander of al-Qaida's north Africa wing AQIM, Algerian Ennahar television reported on Thursday.The station said 40 militants including Abu Zeid were killed in the region of Tigargara in northern Mali three days ago. A French Defense Ministry official declined to comment on the report. Algeria did not confirm the killing.France launched a whirlwind assault to retake Mali's vast northern desert region from AQIM and other Islamist rebels on January 11 after a plea from Mali's caretaker government. The military intervention dislodged the rebels from several main towns they had occupied and drove them back into desert wilds.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)