France and Mauritania raid Al-Qaeda kidnap gang

NOUAKCHOTT — French-backed Mauritanian forces attacked and killed six members of an Al-Qaeda affiliated gang allegedly holding a French hostage in the North African desert, officials said Friday.The French defence ministry said the group was refusing to negotiate the release of a 78-year-old French aid worker kidnapped four months ago, and had been responsible for the murder of a British hostage last year.Asked about the raid -- which some French and Spanish media portrayed as a failed hostage rescue bid -- President Nicolas Sarkozy refused to comment.There was no word on the fate of the French captive, who does not appear to have been present when Thursday's pre-dawn assault was launched, and Mauritania said that the operation was not intended as a rescue.In the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, Interior Minister Mohamed Ould Boilil thanked France for its support, particularly in intelligence gathering, and said the operation had been a success."The operation did not take place on our territory but not far from our border," he said, implicitly confirming reports that the assault had been launched in a remote area of neighbouring Mali."A large arsenal of explosives, weapons and ammunition was seized, along with telecommunications equipment," he said, adding that six members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were killed and four had fled.The minister said that there were no casualties on the government side and that the raid had been launched not to rescue the Frenchman but to "stop some terrorists who planned to attack up on July 28."Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is the North African affiliate of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's loose network of Islamist groups.In Paris, the defence ministry confirmed "that the French military provided technical and logistical support to a Mauritanian operation designed to thwart an attack on Mauritania by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb."Paris did not give any details on the nature of its forces' involvement, but Spanish newspapers and the website of the Fre

Add comment

Nick
Content

Submit