Special to WorldTribune.com

A United States air strike carried out on June 13 inside Libya is said to have killed Islamist militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who had been dubbed “uncatchable” by French forces in North Africa.

“I can confirm that the target of last night’s counterterrorism strike in Libya was Mokhtar Belmokhtar,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said in a statement. Warren could not confirm that Belmokhtar had been killed.

“The strike was carried out by U.S. aircraft,” Warren said. “We are continuing to assess the results of the operation and will provide more details as appropriate.”

Belmokhtar is said to have orchestrated the 2013 attack on Algeria’s Ein Amenas gas field in which 40 oil workers died.

The Algerian-born Belmokhtar, who had earned a reputation as one of the most important “gangster-jihadists” of the Sahara, also supplied arms to Islamist groups and was a trafficker of cigarettes, which gained him the nickname “Mister Marlboro” among the local residents of the Sahara.

Libya’s recognized government on June 14 confirmed the U.S. air strike: “U.S. fighter jets conducted air strikes last night in a mission which resulted in the death of the terrorist Belmokhtar.”

Belmokhtar had previously been reported killed several times, including in 2013 when he was believed to have died in fighting in Mali.

  Col. Steve Warren, Ein Amenas, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, U.S. air strike in Libya said to kill ‘uncatchable’ Islamist militant, WorldTribune.com