Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Belmokhtar 'killed in US strike'

Benghazi: Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who allegedly masterminded the siege of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 hostages died, has been killed in a US air strike, Libya's internationally recognised government said.

"American jets conducted an operation which resulted in the deaths of Mokhtar Belmokhtar and a group of Libyans belonging to a terrorist organisation in eastern Libya," said a statement posted on Facebook. The Pentagon said Belmokhtar had been the target but did not confirm the Islamist's death, which has often been reported in the past.

US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, speaking in France, said "precision weapons" were used in the raid by F-15E warplanes. She also did not comment on Belmokhtar's reported death, saying "The actual impact of that raid is still being assessed."

Hatem el-Ouraybi, spokesman for the recognised government, told AFP on Monday: "Coordination with the US will continue in fighting these terrorist groups." The strike came as part of "the international support that we have always asked for in order to fight terrorist groups in Libya."

Belmokhtar, nicknamed variously as "The Uncatchable", "Mr Marlboro" and "The One-Eyed", was leader of the North African Al-Murabitoun militant group and a former chief of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He allegedly masterminded the 2013 siege of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 hostages, mostly Westerners, were killed. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren confirmed Sunday Belmokhtar was the target of the weekend strike in Libya.

Washington has previously used drones against targets in North Africa, but the New York Times reported this was the first US air strike of any kind in Libya since Moamer Kadhafi's regime fell in 2011. The last US operation in Libya was in 2014, when special forces captured Ahmed Abu Khattala, an alleged organiser of the attack against the US consulate in Benghazi in 2012 that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Libya's statement said the operation came "after consultation with the Libyan transitional government" based in the east.