Al-Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant group’s leadership for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, according to a video posted on YouTube.
Gunmen killed a total of 17 people in three days of violence which began when they opened fire at staff in Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris last week in revenge for the publication of satirical images of the Prophet Muhammad.
One Western source said no hard evidence of a direct operational link to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had yet been found.
However, this was the first time that a group officially claimed responsibility for the attack, led by two French-born brothers of Algerian extraction, Cherif and Said Kouachi, who had visited the poor Arabian peninsula country in 2011.
Authorities in France are still hunting possible accomplices and they are emphasising that they are on alert for further attacks.
“As for the blessed Battle of Paris, we... claim responsibility for this operation as vengeance for the Messenger of God,” said Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, an AQAP ideologue, in the recording.
Ansi said the “one who chose the target, laid the plan and financed the operation is the leadership of the organisation”, without naming an individual. He added without elaborating that the strike was carried out in “implementation” of the order of overall al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, who has called for strikes by Muslims in the West using any means they can find.
With permission from Allah, we will reach Europe – all of Europe
Ansi also gave credit for the operation to slain AQAP propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, a preacher cited by one of the gunmen in remarks to French media as a financer of the attack.
It was not clear how Awlaki, killed by a US drone in 2011, had a direct link to the Paris assault, but he inspired several militants in the US and Britain to acts of violence.
AQAP mocked a big solidarity rally in Paris on Sunday for the victims, saying that the shock on display showed feebleness.
“Look at how they gathered, rallied and supported each other; strengthening their weakness and dressing their wounds,” it said of Western leaders who attended the event.
“Look carefully at their gathering. They are the same who fought us in Afghanistan and Caucasus, in Gaza, the Levant, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen.”
Al-Qaeda offshoot Islamic State released a video which it said showed interviews with three French fighters in Syria praising the attacks, the SITE monitoring service reported.
One said: “I say to the French people who think that the Islamic State will not reach Europe: With permission from Allah the Almighty, we will reach Europe – all of Europe.”
One Western source described Ansi as an Al-Qaeda hawk who is reputed to be an advocate of a merger between the group and Islamic State, an even more hardline organisation.
Until late yesterday it was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the AQAP You Tube recording, which carried the logo of al-Qaeda’s media group al-Malahem. The purported claim of responsibility puts a new spotlight on a group, often cited by Western officials as al Qaeda’s most dangerous branch.