Algerian militants linked to the terrorist group, Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), have claimed that the French tourist in their captivity was killed earlier today. The militants released a video today depicting the gruesome beheading of Herve Gourdel in Algeria, while also issuing a warning to the French Government. Gourdel was said to be vacationing in the Algerian countryside, when the militant group kidnapped him in the city of Kabylie.
Jund Al-Khalifa took credit for the kidnapping and the beheading – the group pledged allegiance to ISIS after the announcement of the formation of a Caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The militants stated that Gourdel’s execution was a direct result of the French participation in the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq and Syria. According to a source in Iraq, the French Air Force carried out multiple airstrikes in Iraq last week, targeting ISIS strongholds in the Nineveh and Al-Anbar Provinces.
The French Government is currently investigating the validity of the video; however, if true, Gourdel becomes the fourth foreigner and first Frenchman to be executed by ISIS and its affiliates in two months.
