AQIM Holds the Abducted Mauritanian Soldier in Northern Mali

Al- Forkan squadron of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) holds the Mauritanian soldier abducted early last week on border with Mali.

The local Sahara Media website has quoted a security official in northern Mali, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that militants at al- Forqan squadron had intruded to the Muritanian territory, and assaulted the local Gendarmerie station on the border locality of Adel Bekrou, before abducting Oueld Mokhtar, a gendarme. 

Yet, another local source mentioned that the assault was lead by Abu al-Hammam, an Algerian originated militant.

 AQIM still has not claimed responsibility of the attack, noting that al-Forqan squadron is composed of militants from Algeria, Mauritania and Libya who fought in Afghanistan in the eighties.