Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed terrorist reported to have been killed in a US airstrike in Libya on Monday, was an al-Qaida veteran and the mastermind behind a devastating attack on an Algerian gas plant in 2013.

Branded variously as "The Uncatchable", "The One-Eyed" and "Mr Marlboro", he had been condemned to death by Algeria twice and reported killed in Mali at least once before the US - which had placed a $5 million bounty on his head - targeted him in Monday's strike.

As well as the Algerian gas plant siege, he personally supervised the operational plans for twin car bombings in Niger that killed at least 20 people that same year, according to a spokesman for his group.