Abdelmalek Droukdel); some commentators speculated that Wadoud wanted to have an alternative to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an increasingly powerful commander in AQIM also operating in Mali.

According to a memo from him to Abou Zeid found in Timbuktu, Wadoud was concerned that the rapid push to establish Sharia law would provoke armed intervention.

In January 2013, France and West African nations responded to the Malian government's request for help and entered with troops in northern Mali to dislodge AQIM.

[15][16] At the request of the Malian government, the French launched a quick intervention in January to drive the radical Islamists from northern Mali.

[3] Abou Zeid was reported killed along with 40 militants on 25 February 2013, by French and Chadian troops near the mountainous region of Tigargara, Northern Mali.