Top al Qaeda commander killed in Mali

Armed forces in Chad claim to have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the commander of an al-Qaeda-linked brigade which carried out a bloody assault to take western hostages at a gas plant in Algeria in January.

Armed forces in Chad claim to have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the commander of an al Qaeda-linked brigade which carried out a bloody assault to take western hostages at a gas plant in Algeria in January.

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Belmokhtar died in a raid on an Islamist rebel base.

One of the world's most wanted terrorists, he had claimed responsibility for the strike on the In Amenas gas plant in which more than 60 people were killed after troops stormed the complex on January 19.

In a statement, armed forces spokesman General Zacharia Gobongue said: "Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base."