French man, Herve Gourdel , kidnapped and beheaded by jiahdists supporting ISIS
A French citizen who was kidnapped on Sunday has been beheaded by an Algerian jihadist group, apparently in retaliation for France launching airstrikes in Iraq against ISIS targets.
Herve Gourdel, 55, was captured by the Sunni militants in the mountains of northern Algeria where Herve works as a guide. The terror group who call themselves Jund al-Khilafah claimed the man would be killed within 24 hours unless France ends its airstrikes.
“Our values are at stake,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday after hearing about the video, but would not comment further at the time, The Association Press reported.
Terrorism watchdog SITE Intelligence Group distributed a video Wednesday by the Algerian group, titled “A message of blood for the French government,” that announced Gourdel’s death.
BBC News noted that Jund al-Khilafa, which translates to “Soldiers of the Caliphate,” pledged allegiance to ISIS earlier in September. The group was previously part of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and is now active across the North and parts of West Africa.
French President Francois Hollande had said on Tuesday regarding the threats: “As grave as this situation is, we will not give into any blackmail, any pressure, any ultimatum no matter how odious, how despicable.”
“Herve Gourdel is dead because he is the representative of a people — ours — that defends human dignity against barbarity,” Hollande said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. “France will never cede to terrorism because it is our duty, and, more than that, because it is our honor.”
A man who identified himself as Herve Gourdel (C) speaks as he sits in between two masked armed gunmen in this still image taken from video
