Chad troops 'kill al Qaida leader'

Chadian president Idriss Deby has announced that Chadian troops fighting to dislodge an al Qaida affiliate in northern Mali have killed one of the group’s leading commanders, Abou Zeid.

Officials in Mali and France, which is leading an international military intervention in Mali against Islamic extremists, could not confirm reports of the death of Abou Zeid.

He is a leader of al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and was behind the kidnapping of several Westerners.

The Chadian president’s spokesman said that Mr Deby announced the death of Abou Zeid during a ceremony today for Chad’s fallen soldiers.