( CNN ) -- Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday charged a one-eyed veteran Islamist fighter with crimes related to a brazen attack on a gas facility in Algeria earlier this year that left 37 hostages dead , including three Americans . Mokhtar Belmokhtar was charged on various conspiracy counts including hostage-taking , kidnapping , providing material support to al Qaeda , and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction , according to the U.S. Attorney 's Office for the Southern district of New York . He is currently at large . While there was no elaboration from federal prosecutors on why the charges against a non-U.S. citizen , stemming from an attack in Alergia , were filed in New York , the attack resulted in deaths of Americans . `` Mokhtar Belmokhtar unleashed a reign of terror years ago , in furtherance of his self-proclaimed goal of waging bloody jihad against the West , '' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release from the Justice Department . `` His efforts culminated in a five-day siege that left dozens dead , including three Americans , and hundreds of others fearing for their lives . '' Belmokhtar is the founder of the Signed-in-Blood Battalion , also known as the al-Mulathamun Battalion . The group claimed responsibility for the January attack . `` The charges against Mokhtar Belmokhtar describe a fanatical jihadist leading an extremist vanguard of an extremist ideology , '' FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said in the Justice Department statement . `` As alleged , he kidnapped diplomats , formed his own terrorist organization that pledged fealty to al-Qaeda , and masterminded the murderous siege of a civilian plant in Algeria that resulted in the deaths of dozens of hostages . '' In the Algerian siege , heavily-armed militants in pickup trucks struck a sprawling state-owned natural gas complex near In Amenas , gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up , according to Algerian Prime Minister Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal . After taking control of the facility , the militants planted explosives throughout the complex . The military tried to negotiate with the militants , but their demands to release militants held prisoner in Algeria were deemed unreasonable , leading to intervention by special forces troops backed by the Algerian Air Force , according to Sallal . The gas facility operated in cooperation with foreign energy firms such as Norway 's Statoil and Britain 's BP -- and as such , employed workers from several Western countries . Belmokhtar said the attack was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to battle Islamist militants in Mali . Belmokhtar was designated as a foreign terrorist by the United States Department of Treasury in 2003 and is considered a key figure in al Qaeda 's efforts in North Africa . The State Department has a $ 5 million dollar reward out for information on his whereabouts .
3 Americans died in a brazen attack on a gas facility earlier this year . Federal prosecutors charge an Algerian Islamist fighter with crimes related to the attack . The man , Mokhtar Belmokhtar , is founder of the group that claimed responsibility for the attack . Belmokhtar is being sought internationally .