Author: djadmin

PARIS— The head of Daesh in the Greater Sahara, who was wanted for deadly attacks on US soldiers and foreign aid workers, has been killed in an operation by French troops.

Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was “neutralised by French forces”, President Emmanuel Macron tweeted early Thursday.

“This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” Macron said, without giving the location or details of the operation.

The jihadist leader was behind the killing of French aid workers in 2020 and was also wanted by the United States over a deadly 2017 attack on US troops in Niger.

Daesh in the Greater Sahara is blamed for most of the jihadist attacks in the Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso region.

The flashpoint “tri-border” area is frequently targeted by ISGS and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

ISGS has carried out deadly attacks targeting civilians and soldiers in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of Sahrawi, who was wanted over an Oct 4, 2017 attack in Niger that killed four US Special Forces and four Niger troops.

On Aug 9, 2020, in Niger, the ISGS head personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and their Niger guides and drivers.

Sahrawi was formerly a member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and also co-led Mujao, a Malian Islamist group responsible for kidnapping Spanish aid workers in Algeria and a group of Algerian diplomats in Mali in 2012.

The French military has killed several high-ranking members of ISGS under its strategy of targeting jihadist leaders since the start of its military intervention in Mali in 2013.

In June this year, Macron announced a major scaleback in France’s anti-jihadist Barkhane force in the Sahel after more than eight years of military presence in the vast region to refocus on counter-terrorism operations and supporting local forces.

“The nation is thinking this evening of all its heroes who died for France in the Sahel in the Serval and Barkhane operations, of the bereaved families, of all its wounded.

“Their sacrifice is not in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue this fight,” Macron added in another tweet.

The north of Mali fell under jihadist control in 2012 until they were pushed out of the cities by France’s military intervention in 2013.

But Mali, an impoverished and landlocked nation home to at least 20 ethnic groups, continues to battle jihadist attacks and intercommunal violence, which often spills over to neighbouring countries.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

NEW YORK— All leaders and diplomats attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week will have to provide proof of vaccination, the city government said, sparking anger from Russia.

Delegates must be vaccinated to enter the debate hall, the mayor’s office told the assembly president in a letter dated Sept 9, but Moscow queried whether New York had the authority to enforce the mandate.

Attendees must also be vaccinated if they want to eat or exercise indoors, the letter added.

More than one hundred leaders including US President Joe Biden, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have announced they plan to attend in person. Others

will make an address via videolink.

Bolsonaro, who had the virus last year, has said he would be the “last Brazilian” to get vaccinated. His office did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the New York announcement.

New York began enforcing a vaccine mandate on Monday, requiring proof of at least one shot for many indoor activities, including restaurants and entertainment venues.

The letter signed by New York City’s health commissioner and confirmed by his spokesman said the UN debate hall was classified as a “convention center,” meaning all attendees must be vaccinated.

“They must also show proof of vaccination prior to dining, drinking or exercising indoors on the UN campus, and in order to partake in all of New York City’s wonderful entertainment, dining and fitness activities,” he said.

But Russia’s ambassador requested an urgent meeting of the General Assembly to discuss the move.

Vassily Nebenzia wrote to assembly president Abdulla Shahid Wednesday saying he had been “very much surprised and disappointed” by a letter Shahid wrote to members in which he supported the proof of vaccination requirement.

“We strongly object that only people with a proof of vaccination should be admitted to the GA hall,” Nebenzia wrote in the letter.

He described it as “a clearly discriminatory measure,” adding that preventing delegates to access the hall was a “clear violation of the UN charter.”

New York accepts all vaccines that have been approved by either the World Health Organization or America’s federal Food and Drug Administration.

Nebenzia said the “rights of people who have received vaccines that are not approved by the CDC” must also be taken into consideration.

He added that the agreement between the United States and the UN over the world body’s headquarters prohibited US actors from regulating the running of the UN.

The city’s letter also reminded diplomats that New York state requires everyone to wear masks on public transport.

“New York City strongly encourages universal mask use indoors regardless of vaccination status,” the note added.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement that the city would set up a pop-up vaccination site at the UN headquarters next week offering free single-dose Johnson & Johnson shots.

The high-level week of the 76th session of the General Assembly starts on Tuesday and finishes the following Monday.

It will be a combined in-person and remote event after last year’s UNGA took place virtually because of the pandemic.

Dozens and sometimes hundreds of people usually accompany leaders on foreign trips but because of coronavirus each delegation is only allowed seven people into the UN headquarters and only four into the hall.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK