Editor’s Note: The illicit trade in tobacco products funds terrorism.
From: The Washington Post
The U.S. government thought it had killed this legendary militant. Now it’s not so sure.
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A native of Algeria, Belmokhtar trained in Afghanistan in the early 1990s and fought with an Islamist group in Algeria’s decade-long civil war before joining another group that became known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
He financed his militant activity by snatching and ransoming foreigners, including the kidnapping of two Westerners working for the United Nations, and was known for his prolific smuggling of cigarettes and other goods across the porous borders of North Africa and the Sahel. He gained local support by marrying into local tribes.
