Al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch has claimed
responsibility for the deadly attack on the
French Charlie Hebdo magazine, saying the
shooting was an operation to teach the
French the limits of freedom of expression.
Abu Hareth al-Nezari, an senior member of Al-
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), made
the claim in an audio recording published
online late on Friday.
"Some French were not polite with the
prophets and that was the reason why a few
of the believers, who loved Allah and his
prophet and loved martyrdom, went to them
to teach them how to behave and how to be
polite with the prophets and to teach them
that the freedom of expression has limits and
boundaries," al-Nezari said in the recording.
Wednesday's attack on the magazine's office,
that left 12 people dead, and ensuing hostage
seizes have shocked France and triggered a
massive seucity operation. In addition to
those killed at Charlie Hebdo, three civilians
and two police officers have been killed.
One of the attackers, Said Kouachi, claimed to
have been trained and financed by al-Qaeda in
Yemen.
Yemeni intelligence officials confirmed to Al
Jazeera that he had indeed been in Yemen in
2011, fighting with al-Qaeda, and had been
deported.
If confirmed, the attack would be the first
time al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen has
successfully carried out an operation in the
West after at least two earlier attempts.
Said, 32 and his 34-year-old brother Cherif
Kouachi were killed northeast of Paris on
Friday, while a gunman who took several
hostages at a supermarket in the east of the
capital was also shot dead in a standoff with
police.
At least four hostages held at the kosher
grocery store in Porte De Vincennes also died
on Friday as police stormed the site.
French police are still hunting for Hayat
Boumeddiene, suspected of involvement in the
kosher store siege and the shooting of a
policewoman.
Police said Boumeddiene was the wife of
Amedy Coulibaly, who laid siege to the
supermarket.
After the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office
on Wednesday, the two gunmen were at-large
for almost 24 hours until they were first
spotted outside Paris on Thursday.
The owner of a petrol station in Villers-
Cotterets called the police, claiming to have
been robbed by the two suspects at around
9:30 GMT. The men reportedly stole petrol
and food.
Almost 24 hours later on Friday, reports came
in of a gunfight with police, north of Paris, in
Seine-et-Marne, near Dammartin-en-Goele.
Police chased the vehicle which they believe
the Kouachi brothers hijacked from a woman.
The chase ended in the industrial area of
Dammartin-en-Goele.
A hostage was taken by the gunmen, starting
the siege that lasted hours.
The suspects were then surrounded, holed up
in a print shop. Later on Friday, the gunmen
came out of the shop firing at police and were
killed in the shoot-out.
Al Jazeera.
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