A senior leader of the al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has been killed by Algerian forces in the southern province of Bejaia, Xinhua reported. A security source told local news website TSA that forensic experts identified the killed militant as 45-year-old Makhfi Rabah, also known as Sheikh Abdenacer.

Hailing from the province of Boumerdes, 50 km from Algiers, Sheikh Abdenacer was close to the head of the AQIM, Abdelmalek Droukdel.

He was the commander of the group responsible for the Kabylie region, covering the provinces of Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, Bouira and Bejaia, the source said.

In March this year, an Algerian court sentenced Makhfi Rabah to death in absentia together with Droukdel.