From: International Business Times
Terrorists’ leader and former al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) member Mokhtar Belmokhtar
The al-Qaeda-linked group of infamous one-eyed Algerian fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (Isis) according to an audio aired by private Mauritanian agency al-Akhbar.
Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui, a leading member of the al-Murabitoun movement vowed loyalty “to the caliph of Muslims Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, thereby banishing divisions and dissent within the nation”.
It is unclear whether Belmokhtar, whose terrorist cell led a deadly raid in Algeria’s Amenas gas in January 2013 killing 37 oil contractors, took part to the oath.
Dubbed “The Uncatchable” or “Mr Marlboro“, because of his role in cigarette-smuggling across the Sahel, Belmokhtar is a former al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) member and is on the wanted list for masterminding the In Amenas BP gas plant siege in which 37 people, including six Britons, were killed.