Key Islamic State Commander Eliminated in Mali Operation: $5 Million Reward Offered

Malian forces have successfully eliminated Abu Huzeifa, a senior commander of a West African Islamic State faction, in a major operation in the northern Menaka region.

The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $5 million for any information on Huzeifa, as he is suspected to have been involved in a 2017 attack in Niger that resulted in the deaths of four U.S. and four Nigerien soldiers.

Over the last decade, attacks carried out by al Qaeda and Islamic State have caused significant loss of life in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, leading to instability in the central Sahel region of West Africa.