Top Algerian militant killed in US strike in Libya, confirms Tripoli

tripoli/washington — A veteran militant blamed for a deadly attack on an Algerian gas field and who ran smuggling routes across North Africa has been killed in a US air strike inside Libya, Libya’s government said on Sunday.

The recognised government said the strike had killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian militant who became a major figure in insurgencies across North Africa and the Saharan border region and was dubbed “The Uncatchable” by the French military.

The United States military confirmed Belmokhtar had been targeted in Saturday night’s air strike but did not say if he was killed.

The Pentagon was continuing to assess the results of the operation, spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a statement.

Libya’s internationally recognised government, which sits in the eastern town of Bayda, said the United States strike had killed Belmokhtar at a gathering with other militant leaders, who it did not name.

Libyan officials gave no further details about the area of the strike. But Libyan military sources said an air strike on a farmhouse on Saturday in Ajdabiya city near Benghazi had killed seven members of the Ansar Al Sharia militant group who had been meeting there. Belmokhtar earned a reputation as one of the most elusive militant leaders in the region. He has been reported killed several times, including in 2013 when he was believed to have died in fighting in Mali. —