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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A Malian special forces spokesman says an Islamic extremist who was released last year in exchange for the freedom of a French hostage in Mali has been killed.
Modibo Nama Traore said Monday that French special forces killed Mohamed Ali Ag Wadossene in an early Sunday morning operation in the Tigharghar mountains in north Mali's Kidal region. A dozen others were arrested, he said.
An official with the French special forces, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press, confirmed the operation.
Ag Wadossene was among the al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb members who kidnapped Philippe Verdon and Serge Lazarevic in northern Mali in 2011. Ag Wadossene was captured, and then released in December 2014 for the freedom of French hostage Lazarevic.
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