Officials have said that the Algerian army has killed the man thought to be responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of a French hiker.
French 24 reported that in addition to killing the alleged militant leader, Abdelmalek Gouri, two other members of the Jund al-Khilafa group were also killed in the operation.
"That allowed us to eliminate three terrorists," the army said in a statement.
Soldiers are said to have seized a large number of guns, ammunition and explosives during the operation.
The Irish Independent noted that in September, the group pledging alliance to the Islamic State, kidnapped French hiker Herve Gourdel in the Djurdjura Mountains. A video was later made showing the group beheading him when demands for France to end air strikes were not met.
The Algerian Army has that it is still searching for other members of the IS splinter group.
Gouri was a former al Qaida commander, but left that group and joined IS last year.