Belmokhtar rejects ISIS allegiance pledge

Algerian jihadist commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar distanced himself on Friday from a pledge of allegiance made by his jihadist group to the Islamic State organisation, Mauritanian media reported. Belmokhtar's north African Al-Murabitoun group was linked to al-Qaeda but a recording broadcast by Mauritanian news agency Al-Akhbar on Thursday said it was aligning itself with the ISIS organisation and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.