US spots bounty on Al Qaeda chief found in North Africa
03 June, 2021
The US on Wednesday positioned a bounty as high as $7 million on the first choice of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the organisation’s North African branch.
The Express Department’s Rewards for Justice programme announced that it could provide money “for information resulting in the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi”, who now prospects the group.
Mr Al Anabi, an Algerian citizen, had led Aqim's media and propaganda functions but became the first choice of the group last year after French troops killed his predecessor, Abdelmalek Droukdel, in Mali.
The US imposed sanctions on Mr Al Anabi in 2015, as did the UN in 2016.
While the majority of the group’s fighters are involved in ground combat in Mali, he and several of the organisation’s leaders are usually based in Algeria.
Washington primary designated Aqim's predecessor organisation, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Fight, a terrorist entity in 2001.
The group rebranded and pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda’s global network in 2006.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com