French forces in Mali kill Islamist on U.S. wanted list

Reuters ^ | Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:20am EST

[wtd]

• French forces in Mali kill Islamist on U.S. wanted list PARIS Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:20am EST

  (Reuters) - French forces in northern Mali have killed a senior commander of the al Mourabitoun Islamist group who was wanted by the United States, a defense ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

  The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Ahmed al Tilemsi, who took part in the 2011 kidnapping of two French nationals in Niger and of three aid workers in Algeria later that year.

  Al Tilemsi was a founding member of the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), which merged with fighters loyal to veteran Islamist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar to form al Mourabitoun last year.

  "Last night, we launched an operation in the Gao region in coordination with Malian forces," Colonel Gilles Jarron told reporters in Paris. He added that Tilesmi had been killed and a dozen other Islamists 'neutralized', but did not specify if that meant killed or arrested.

[Pollster1]

The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Ahmed al Tilemsi . . .

I like to be thrifty with tax dollars, but we should still pay a bounty to the men/team who made the kill (or to a charity of their choice if the French government will not permit a direct payment). A $5M bonus could easily affect the motivation of future teams like this one. Dead terrorists are the best possible use of our money; in the long run, paying off will probably save money.

[cartan]

[I want the USA back]

Merci, France. The savage is now worm food.

[stormer]

[SunkenCiv]

Ka-boom, ka-boom, ya-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da...

[rfreedom4u]

Works for me! Good job France!

[muir_redwoods]

We have a bit of fun with the French but they’re not a bad group, generally. Every once in a while we get a story like this. I do remeber a story about a rusty scow filled with French Special Forces floating temptingly by Somali pirates. Once they boarded, the pirates got all the surprise they could ever handle

[NorthMountain]

killed a senior commander of the al Mourabitoun Islamist group who was wanted by the United States

Well, dang! Now we can't have him ...

Good Job, Froggies! Following in the footsteps of Charles Martel ... converting live jihadists into good jihadists.

[donozark]

That Legionnaire got in a world of excrement over that mask. Hope he wasn’t punished too severely....Bet it scared the daylights out of the militants.