Synopsis
On 13 November, French military representatives stated that they had killed a jihadist commander linked with Al-Qaeda in Mali, Bah Ag Moussa, along with 4 others. The French military stated they interdicted his vehicle in the Menaka Region on 10 November, and killed the commander and his associates after French commandos, attempted to stop the vehicle with warning shots, and the French commandos acted in self-defence.
Background
Bah Ag Moussa, also known as Bamoussa Diarra, and prior to deserting, was a former officer in the Malian army. The United Nations has previously added Moussa to an international sanctions list for orchestrati
ng multiple attacks against the Forces Armées Maliennes (FAMA) (Malian Armed Forces), and international military forces within Mali.
Analyst Comments
Moussa's prevalence in major attacks, means that France's removal of Moussa from the battlefield will likely be a substantial set back to Al-Qaeda linked jihadists, especially their ability to plan and launch substantial attacks against FAMA and international forces in the eastern regions of Mali. Despite this operation's success, the strike will unlikely have any positive impact on the most common cause of violence in Mali; the internecine conflict between different ethnicities and communities, some of which have sided with so called Jihadists, and almost always caused by an absence of capable governance in remote areas.