Khaled aboul abbas mokhtar belmokhtar biography

Algerian al-Qaeda member (1972–2016)

Mokhtar Belmokhtar (;^[1]Arabic: مختار بلمختار;^{[2][name 1]} 1 June 1972 ^[3] – November 2016), also known as Khalid Abu al-Abbas, The One-Eyed, Nelson, and The Uncatchable,^[4] was an Algerian leader of the group Al-Murabitoun, former military commander of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, smuggler and weapons dealer.^[5] He was twice convicted and sentenced to death in absentia under separate charges in Algerian courts: in 2007 for terrorism and in 2008 for murder.

In 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Algeria for terrorist activities.^[6][7][8]

Born in northern Algeria, Belmokhtar traveled to Afghanistan in 1991 to fight with the mujahadeen against the pro-Soviet government following the withdrawal of Soviet Union troops.

There, he lost his left eye while mishandling explosives. He later joined the IslamistGIA fighting in