French special forces have killed two "terrorist chiefs" in Mali, the defence ministry said Wednesday. The jihadist leaders include Abdelkrim al-Targui, who has been linked to the 2013 kidnapping and murders of two French journalists in Mali.

A French special forces operation during the night of May 17 and 18 resulted in the killing of four jihadists, including “two important terrorist chiefs,” said a French defence ministry statement released Wednesday. The statement named the two key jihadist figures as Amada Ag Hama -- also known as "Abdelkrim the Touareg" or Abdelkrim al-Targui -- and Ibrahim Ag Inawalen, alias "Bana".

Targui is linked to the 2013 kidnapping and murders of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, journalists from FRANCE 24’s sister radio station, RFI (Radio France Internationale).

A commander in al Qaeda’s North African branch, AQIM (Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb), Targui had claimed responsibility for the RFI journalists' murders months after the attack in a satellite phone call to Sahara Media, a Mauritanian portal frequently used by jihadists in the region.

A familiar figure in AQIM’s Malian operations, Targui was one of the few senior Tuareg commanders in a terror organisation dominated by Algerians. A member of the Ifoghas tribe, Targui hails from Kidal, the northern Malian town where the journalists were kidnapped in November 2013.

Western intelligence officials believe the two RFI journalists were kidnapped in Kidal and killed during a botched jihadist operation. Targui is believed to have ordered the killings after the vehicle carrying the hostages broke down outside Kidal.

AQIM has said the killing of Dupont and Verlon was in retaliation for the ‘‘daily crimes’’ committed by French and Malian forces in northern Mali, where France launched a military operation in January 2013 to flush out Islamist militants.

France24