Chad: We killed mastermind of Algeria gas plant attack

Chad says its soldiers in Mali killed the mastermind of the January raid on an Algerian gas plant that left at least 37 foreign hostages and 30 militants dead. On Saturday, the Central African country’s military spokesman announced Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in an operation in the Ifoghas mountain range. Belmokhtar, a notorious militant active in smuggling and kidnapping, claims to have organized the raid on the Ain Amenas gas plant in retaliation for French intervention in Mali. Belmokhtar is one of four leaders of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb brigades during the 2000s. He broke with the group last year to form his own organization, the Signed-in-Blood Battalion. Soldiers from Chad are fighting Islamist militants in northern Mali as part of a French-led international force. Both the American military and French Defense Ministry say they are still confirming the report on Belmokhtar’s killing.

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