The al Qaeda militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar and seven others have been reported killed in a US air strike inside Libya.
Belmokhtar’ is thought to have been responsible for orchestrating the 2013 attack on the Amenas gas plant in Algeria.
The US has only admitted carrying out an air strike – its first conducted against a target in the North African country since the end of the war against Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
A statement from Libya’s recognised government confirmed Belmokhtar’s death although he has been reported dead on several previous occasions.