Al Qaeda denies reports of ex-chief Belmokhtar's death
Cairo, June 19: North African branch of Al-Qaeda has refuted reports that its ex-chief Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in a US air strike in Libya.
Belmokhtar has been a major figure in insurgencies across North Africa and the Saharan border region, news agency Reuters reported.
In
a
statement
on
Twitter,
Al
-Qaeda
has
claimed
that
Belmokhtar,
also
known
as
Khalid
Abu
al-Abbas,
is
alive.
"The
mujahid
commander
Khalid
Abu
al-Abbas
is
still
alive
and
well,
and
he
wanders
and
roams
in
the
land
of
Allah,
supporting
his
allies
and
vexing
his
enemies," said
the
statement.
Islamist Mokhtar Belmokhtar killed in US strike
Libya's government said on June 15 that Belmokhtar blamed for a deadly attack on Algeria's Amenas gas field in 2013 in which 40 oil workers died, has been killed in air-strike.
Belmokhtar also ran smuggling routes across North Africa. He was dubbed "The Uncatchable" by the French military.
Once associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's Algerian leadership, Belmokhtar broke from the group but remained tied to al Qaeda's central leadership even after forming his own group "Those who sign in Blood".
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