The International Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced a jihadist police chief to 10 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a reign of terror in the fabled Malian city of Timbuktu.

ICC judges had convicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 47, in June for crimes including torture when he was a member of the feared Ansar Dine Islamic militant group that seized control of Timbuktu for almost a year from early 2012.

The sentence “is proportionate to the gravity of the crimes and the individual circumstances and culpability of Mr Al Hassan,” said presiding judge Kimberly Prost.

“It adequately reflects the strong condemnation by the international community for the crimes committed by him and acknowledges the significant harm and suffering caused to the victims,” she added.

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Wearing all-white traditional West African robes, his head wrapped in a turban, Al Hassan listened intently, his hands folded in his lap.

He showed no emotion after the judge read the sentence, before being led away by ICC security guards.