Al Qaeda's North African branch has reportedly chosen replacements for two of its deceased commanders, who were killed in France's military intervention in Northern Mali in February 2013.
A Mauritanian news agency, the ANI website, which has previously been used as a publicity tool by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), revealed that Algerian Saeed Abu Muqatil would replace Abou Zeid, former head of one of its most violent brigades, Fox News reports
Mauritanian Aderrahmane would replace Muhammad al-Ameen Ould al-Hasan, who also died in foreign intervention.
Aderrahmane was involved in controlling the city of Timbuktu after northern Mali fell to Islamic extremists following a March 2012 military coup.