US strike in Libya

Lolita C. Baldor and Sarah El Deeb have an Associated Press article about another dead terrorist:

The US military launched weekend airstrikes targeting and likely killing an al-Qaeda-linked militant leader in eastern Libya who has been charged with leading the attack on a gas plant (photo) in Algeria in 2013 that killed at least thirty hostages, including three Americans.
The Libyan government said warplanes targeted and killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar and several others in eastern Libya. A US official said two F-15 fighter jets launched multiple five -hundred-pound bombs in the attack. The official was not authorized to discuss the details of the attack publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials said they are still assessing the results of the strike, but a Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said the military believes the strike was successful and hit the target. Neither US officials nor the Libyan government provided proof of Belmokhtar's death, which likely requires a DNA test or an announcement by Belmokhtar's group that he was killed. Officials said there were no US personnel on the ground for the assault.
The US filed terrorism charges in 2013 against Belmokhtar in connection with the Algeria attack. Officials have said they believe he remained a threat to US and Western interests. Belmokhtar, an Algerian in his forties, had just split from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, to start his own faction.
Belmokhtar has a long history of leading terrorist activities as a member of AQIM, is the operational leader of the al-Qaeda-associated al-Murabitun organization in Northwest Africa, and maintains his personal allegiance to al-Qaeda, Warren said.
The Libyan government in a statement said that the strike targeting Belmokhtar came after consultation with the US, so that America could take action against a terrorist leader there.
One government official in Libya said that an airstrike in the northeastern coastal city of Ajdabiya hit a group of Islamic militants also believed linked to al-Qaeda and that it killed five and injured more. He said the group that was injured got into clashes with the Libyan military that guarded the hospital there, leading to hours of fighting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The official couldn't confirm that was the same strike that likely killed Belmokhtar.
The charges filed against Belmokhtar by Federal law enforcement officials in Manhattan included conspiring to support al-Qaeda and use of a weapon of mass destruction. Additional charges of conspiring to take hostages and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carry a maximum penalty of death.
At the time, US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release that Belmokhtar "unleashed a reign of terror years ago, in furtherance of his self-proclaimed goal of waging bloody jihad against the West."
Authorities also offered a five million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of Belmokhtar, who has also been known as "the one-eyed sheikh" since he lost an eye in combat.
The airstrike comes as al-Qaeda militants in eastern Libya continue to battle with members of the Islamic State, as the warring groups fight over power and resources.
In its statement, the Libyan government said that the operation "is a piece of the international support that it has long requested to fight terrorism that represents a dangerous threat to the regional and international situation." It added that the government would like more help fighting terrorism, including the Islamic State, which controls Sirte and is moving west and south.

Rico says you bite the big dog, he'll bite back...