According to our information, Almahmoud ag Baye, alias Ikarey, was neutralized on Tuesday, June 15, in a town southwest of Ménaka, in northeastern Mali. The French and Nigerian armies carried out several counter-terrorism operations last week in this Malian region bordering Niger. An offensive that also resulted in the arrest of four other EIGS executives.
It was around 1 pm, on Tuesday 15 June, that EIGS fighters withheld a joint patrol of French and Nigerian soldiers. The fighting is violent and according to a Nigerian security source, Ikarey and one of his little brothers named Adoum are killed there.
According to several sources close to the fighting in the Menaka region, Ikarey’s family announced their deaths on Thursday night. Ikarey was a lieutenant of Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
The US intelligence service had identified him as one of the thinking leaders of the Tongo Tongo attack, this ambush which had killed three US soldiers in Niger in October 2017. For this, Ikarey was part of the list of people most in demand in the Sahel of the United States. His head costs $ 5 million.
Contacted by RFI, the French staff declined to comment. Barkhane has been discreet about its recent operations in the Menaka region. However, they resulted in the arrest of several EIGS leaders including Abu Darda and Rhissa al-Sahraoui.
►Rhissa al-Sahraoui, a relative of the leader of the EIGS, in the hands of Allied forces
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