ISIS takes fourth; France mulls airstrikes in Syria
26 Sept 2014 5:50 AM IST
Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group have decapitated a French hostage after France carried out airstrikes in Iraq, according to a video that appeared online Wednesday.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the killing of Herve Gourdel and said France would continue its fight against ISIS group, which are Sunni militants that have taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
‘Herve Gourdel is dead because he is the representative of a people — ours — that defends human dignity against barbarity,’ Hollande said, speaking along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. ‘My determination is total and this attack only reinforces it. We will continue to fight terrorism everywhere.’
A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, had said they would kill the French mountaineer after abducting him Sunday unless France ended its airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq within 24 hours.
The killing of a hostage represents a departure for radical Islamic groups in Algeria, which in the past decade have made millions off ransoming hostages. France is also known for paying ransoms, though several hostages have died in the past at the hands of their captors.
In the video, masked gunmen from the newly formed group that split away from al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch stood over a kneeling Gourdel. They pledged their allegiance to the leader of the ISIS group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said they were fighting his enemies. They added they were following his instructions to attack the French.
France will probably join the US-led coalition’s bombing on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday.
Speaking over RTL radio, Le Drian said France’s possible participation in the military offensive in Syria was ‘on the table’, Xinhua reported
‘The opportunity is not there on Thursday. We already have an important task in Iraq and we will see in the coming days how the situation progresses,’ the minister added.
Last Friday, French President Francois Hollande gave the green light to his air force to launch first airstrikes against militants in Iraq. Hollande was scheduled to head a cabinet meeting on security to assess Paris’s military operation in Iraq and to lay out ways to ensure the safety of French people at home and abroad.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the killing of Herve Gourdel and said France would continue its fight against ISIS group, which are Sunni militants that have taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
‘Herve Gourdel is dead because he is the representative of a people — ours — that defends human dignity against barbarity,’ Hollande said, speaking along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. ‘My determination is total and this attack only reinforces it. We will continue to fight terrorism everywhere.’
A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, had said they would kill the French mountaineer after abducting him Sunday unless France ended its airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq within 24 hours.
The killing of a hostage represents a departure for radical Islamic groups in Algeria, which in the past decade have made millions off ransoming hostages. France is also known for paying ransoms, though several hostages have died in the past at the hands of their captors.
In the video, masked gunmen from the newly formed group that split away from al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch stood over a kneeling Gourdel. They pledged their allegiance to the leader of the ISIS group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said they were fighting his enemies. They added they were following his instructions to attack the French.
France will probably join the US-led coalition’s bombing on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday.
Speaking over RTL radio, Le Drian said France’s possible participation in the military offensive in Syria was ‘on the table’, Xinhua reported
‘The opportunity is not there on Thursday. We already have an important task in Iraq and we will see in the coming days how the situation progresses,’ the minister added.
Last Friday, French President Francois Hollande gave the green light to his air force to launch first airstrikes against militants in Iraq. Hollande was scheduled to head a cabinet meeting on security to assess Paris’s military operation in Iraq and to lay out ways to ensure the safety of French people at home and abroad.
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