Qaeda denies Belmokhtar's death report

Al-Qaeda in North Africa has denied reports its former leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in a US air strike last week in Libya, in a statement posted online overnight.

"The mujahid Khaled Abu al-Abbas is still alive and well," said the statement from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, using the name by which Belmokhtar is widely known in jihadist circles.

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Libya's internationally recognised government said on Sunday that Belmokhtar -- who has been reported dead on several previous occasions -- was killed in a US air strike.

On Monday, the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia jihadist group also denied Belmokhtar had been killed in the raids.