Al-Qaeda confirms death of top general

Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing has confirmed that its Algerian chief Abdelmalek Droukdel is dead. That's according to SITE, the US watchdog for extremist groups. France had stated that its forces killed Droukdel in northern Mali this month. 'After nearly two weeks, AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) has officially acknowledged the death of its long-time leader Droukdel (Wadud), with a video eulogy narrated by AQIM's head of media, pledging continued battles against occupying French forces and others in North Africa and the Sahel,' said SITE director Rita Katz. A report on the News24 site notes that French military sources say the death of Droukdel – once regarded as Algeria's enemy number one – could leave AQIM in disarray. Legalbrief reports that journalists in 2012 discovered a document attributed to Droukdel in Timbuktu that criticised militants for implementing Islamic law too quickly in Mali. He believed the destruction of shrines would provoke Western governments to intervene in Mali.

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