A high-ranking member of jihadist group Al-Murabitoun has been killed in an overnight operation by French forces in northern Mali, the army said Thursday.

“Last night… French forces conducted an operation in the Gao region (of northern Mali) in coordination with Malian authorities,” army spokesman Gilles Jaron said, adding that Ahmed el Tilemsi who is head of the Mali division of the group and is wanted by the United States has been killed.

Al-Murabitoun was formed in 2013 through the merger of two Mali- and Mauritania-based militia.