Libya says U.S. airstrikes killed a top terrorist

A militant believed to have launched a deadly attack on an Algerian gas plant has been killed by a U.S. airstrike, Libya’s government says. The Department of Defense said Sunday that it was assessing the results of an airstrike it had carried out against “an al-Qaida-associated terrorist in Libya.” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar was the target, but could not confirm whether he had been killed. An Islamist with ties to Libyan militants said the airstrikes missed Belmokhtar, instead killing four members of a Libyan extremist group the U.S. has linked to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

I can confirm that the target of last night’s counterterrorism strike in Libya was Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren

Col. Warren said the military believes the strike was successful and hit the target. Islamist commander Belmokhtar, nicknamed variously as “The Uncatchable,” “Mr. Marlboro” and “The One-Eyed,” was the leader of the north African Al-Murabitoun militant group and a former chief of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb region. Wanted for terrorist activities in several countries, he was the alleged mastermind behind the 2013 siege of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 mostly Western hostages were killed.

Belmokhtar has a long history of leading terrorist activities … and maintains his personal allegiance to al-Qaida.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren

World Mokhtar Belmokhtar