The TV channel Al Jazeera is reporting that a French hostage held by al-Qaeda militants in the Sahara has been killed. In Paris, the Elysee has confirmed the information. 78-year-old retired engineer Michel Germaneau was kidnapped in Niger in April. Al Jazeera says he was killed in retaliation for a raid by Mauritanian troops against a militant camp in the desert in Mali.
France has confirmed it provided “technical and logistical” support in the raid, in which several suspected militants were reportedly killed. Paris said the operation was aimed at preventing an attack against Mauritania, but there has been speculation that it was a failed bid to rescue the hostage.
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