France on Saturday officially confirmed the death of the regional Qaeda leader Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, weeks after he was reported to have been killed in fighting in northern Mali at the end of February.

President François Hollande of France issued a statement saying that the death of Abu Zeid was “definitively confirmed” and that his death “marks an important step in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.”

Abu Zeid was considered the leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a regional affiliate and offshoot of Al Qaeda, and is thought to be responsible for the kidnapping of numerous Western hostages and the deaths of at least two of them.