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Monday 15 Jun 2015 - 17:49 Makkah mean time-28-8-1436
Mokhtar Belmokhtar (Photo: Sahara Media site)
Tripoli (IINA) – Libya's internationally recognized government said Sunday leader of Al-Qaeda-linked group Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who allegedly masterminded the siege of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 hostages died, has been killed in a U.S. air strike, AFP reported.
"American jets conducted an operation which resulted in the deaths of Mokhtar Belmokhtar and a group of Libyans belonging to a terrorist organization in eastern Libya," said a statement issued by the Libyan government.
The Pentagon said Belmokhtar had been the target of the strike but did not confirm he had been killed.
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.
The U.S. did not immediately confirm more details of the operation. Washington has in the past used drones to strike targets in the region.
The operation took place "after consultation with the Libyan transitional government" based in the eastern city of Tobruk, according to the Libyan statement.
AB/IINA
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