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According to Malian and Algerian TV, Abu Zeid, one of the principal leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) has been killed in the Franco-Malian operation in the north-east of Mali.
The unconfirmed news has come at a time when Operation Serval, which was launched by France on January 11, has now entered Ifoghas, a mountainous region close to the Algerian border.
Speaking on French radio, the country's Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, spoke of this sanctuary for Islamic militias, saying, "it's problematic, because you have to comb the ground slowly, metre by metre."
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