A senior Islamist militant who has been accused of being the brain behind an Algerian gas field attack and running smuggling routes across North Africa, has been killed in a US air strike inside Libya, Libya's recognised government said on Sunday.
Reuters reports that the Libyan government said the strike had killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian militant who became a major figure in insurgencies across North Africa and the Sahel and had earned the nickname the "Uncatchable" from the French military.
The US military confirmed Belmokhtar had been targeted in the air strike on Saturday night, but did not say if he had been killed.
"I can confirm that the target of last night's counterterrorism strike in Libya was Mokhtar Belmokhtar," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a statement.
"The strike was carried out by US aircraft," Warren said. "We are continuing to assess the results of the operation and will provide more details as appropriate."
The Pentagon had said earlier on Sunday it had carried out a strike against an al Qaeda-affiliated target in Libya, but did not elaborate.
Following the initial US statement, Libya's recognised government said: "The Libyan government in the east of Libya confirms that US fighter jets conducted air strikes last night in a mission which resulted in the death of the terrorist Belmokhtar."
Belmokhtar has been reported killed several times, including in 2013 when he was believed to have died in fighting in Mali. He has earned a reputation as one of the most elusive jihadi leaders in the region.
If confirmed, the death of Belmokhtar - who was blamed for orchestrating the 2013 attack on Algeria's In Amenas gas field in which 40 oil workers died, and for several foreign kidnappings - would be a major strike against al Qaeda-tied groups in the region.