West Bank: The Malian army announced the capture of a leader from the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara and his bodyguard in northern Mali.

According to Nam News Network, the army stated that the arrests took place during a clash in the Cha-Mane area on Saturday. The identities of the captured individuals were not disclosed in the announcement.

The army’s statement highlighted that intelligence operations were crucial in the successful capture of the terrorist. The operations allowed security forces to ambush the leader while he was engaged in assembling and coercing local residents as part of a forced awareness campaign. It was noted in the statement that the captured leader is of foreign nationality.