AMBOULI, Djibouti—French aircraft struck and likely killed one of the most wanted senior al Qaeda operatives in southern Libya this month, marking a new level of cooperation between France and the U.S. on targeting militants, U.S. officials said.
This wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. thought that a strike killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an elusive insurgent leader known as the “one-eyed terrorist” because of an accident years ago that left him disfigured. Reports of his death following previous operations to target him over the years have proved false.
Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar is seen in an undated picture from the U.S. Justice Department. ENLARGE
Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar is seen in an undated picture from the U.S. Justice Department. Photo: US Department of Justice/REUTERS
But based on what they described as the caliber of the intelligence, U.S. officials expressed greater confidence that the latest strike, conducted by French aircraft in southern Libya based in part on intelligence feeds from the U.S. earlier this month, likely was successful. Efforts are under way to determine its outcome, officials said. Officials at the White House and the Pentagon declined to comment on the strike. A spokesman for the French Ministry of Defense declined to comment.
Mr. Belmokhtar has raised tens of millions of dollars for al Qaeda affiliates through smuggling and by taking European hostages and selling illicit goods, and is considered directly responsible for the deaths of at least three Americans, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. in 2013 launched a multiagency effort to find him that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the military’s Joint Special Operations Command and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mr. Belmokhtar, once the head of the al Qaeda chapter in North Africa and the Sahel region—known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM—has been on the U.S. wanted list for at least a decade. He was thought to have been killed at least twice before, including in an airstrike in June and a drone strike last year.
If the strike this month was successful, it would represent a culmination of efforts by the U.S., French and other allies to capture or kill Mr. Belmokhtar. It would also reflect the extent of new military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries, U.S. and French officials said. The U.S. contributed intelligence to add to what French officials already knew about Mr. Belmokhtar’s whereabouts in anticipation of this month’s strike, U.S. officials said.
The killing of Mr. Belmokhtar would be the first confirmation that France has conducted airstrikes in Libya. Paris has for months tried to keep a low profile on its operations in the country, fearing that public military intervention would be seen as taking sides in Libya’s internal conflicts.
Yet the presence of thousands of militants in the country who have sworn allegiance to Islamic State and al Qaeda has prompted France to launch covert operations there for at least the last year, Western officials say. The missions include supporting local forces on counterterrorism missions and directly hunting down extremists, officials say.
After denying the existence of Libyan operations for months, France in July was forced to acknowledge its presence on the ground when three French intelligence agents died in a helicopter crash near the eastern city of Benghazi.
The U.S. and France have long had an intelligence-sharing relationship for counterterrorism purposes, but it became more formalized following last year’s Paris attacks. An agreement, announced by President Barack Obama in November 2015, directs U.S. officials to share operational planning and intelligence with their French counterparts.
The agreement has been expanded quietly, with more information sharing and intelligence cooperation, officials said.
Lisa Monaco, Mr. Obama’s homeland-security adviser, wouldn’t confirm details of the recent strike. But she said France is one of the “most effective allies” in bringing pressure against Islamic State, in Syria, Iraq and in Africa.
“The French have been indispensable partners, bringing resources, expertise and determination to the fight,” she said.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is set to meet in Washington Monday with his French counterpart, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, with the military and intelligence relationship continuing apace since the Paris attacks. American senior defense intelligence officials met last week as part of the so-called Lafayette Committee, formed after the agreement made with France last fall. The first of the semiannual meetings was in May.
The strike in southern Libya this month stands in contrast to French airstrike operations following the attacks in and around Paris a year ago, when French officials, under pressure by the French public to respond to the attacks, conducted strikes against Islamic State over Syria, but with little initial coordination with U.S. officials.
The intelligence the U.S. shares with France, though expanded, is still not considered akin to the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance between the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The two countries are still working through longstanding issues when it comes to trust and the ability of both intelligence apparatuses to share information. But U.S. officials want to deepen the relationship as much as possible, U.S. officials said. CONTINUE AT SITE
