French troops arrest North Africa’s most dangerous terrorist

Aya Ezz

French troops have succeeded in arresting Mohamed al-Morabit, a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Sahara Desert.

Al-Morabit was a close associate of Abdel Malek Drokal, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arab Maghreb who was killed by French troops in northern Mali weeks ago.

Al-Mortabit is known to be a dangerous terrorist. He guided French troops to Drokal’s hideout. After his arrest, al-Morabit mentioned during his interrogation information about the place where Drokal was hiding.

Al-Morabit is a 40-year-old Algerian national. He joined terrorist groups early on in his life. He played a dangerous role in the violence that swept through Algeria in the 1990s.

He then left Algeria and headed to Mali where he joined the Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in 2012. Following 2016, al-Morabit became a senior commander of ISIS in Mali.

He succeeded in forming an ISIS province in Mali, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. He sent some militants to Libya.

He used deteriorating security conditions and tensions between tribes and central governments in these countries to gain presence among ordinary people. Al-Morabit also succeeded in drawing in many recruits.