'Dead' Al-Qaeda Commander in Libya May Still be Alive

'Dead' Al-Qaeda Commander in Libya May Still be Alive
Mon Jun 15, 2015 15:01:29

A one-eyed al-Qaeda commander reported to have been killed in a Libyan airstrike on Saturday may still be alive.

US officials and the Libyan government confirmed the death of 43-year-old commander, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, along with several others, in the June 13 airstrike.

But the death of the commander, who was behind a fatal attack on a gas plant in Algeria that left 35 hostages, including six Britons, dead, has been disputed.

An Islamist with ties to Libyan militants claims the airstrike missed Belmokhtar, Daily Mail reports.

It is claimed that the attack instead killed four members of a Libyan extremist group the US has linked to the September 11, 2012, attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

US officials are still assessing the results of Saturday’s strike, but Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the military believes the strike was successful and hit the target.

But neither US officials nor the Libyan government have provided proof of Belmokhtar’s death, which would require a DNA test or an announcement by Belmokhtar’s group that he was killed.

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