Islamic State Splinter Group Kidnaps French Holiday Maker In Algeria

 

                  A French holidaymaker has been kidnapped in eastern Algeria by an organization claiming to be an Islamic State splinter group.

                   France's foreign ministry confirmed one of its nationals was abducted on Sunday - just hours after IS warned it would target France because Paris launched air strikes against them in Iraq.

Deputy foreign ministry spokesman Alexandre Georgini said: "A French national was kidnapped on Sunday in Algeria, in the region of Tizi Ouzou, while he was on holiday there.

Mr Georgini initially said nobody had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but a video has now emerged showing the kidnapped man, who says he has been taken by an Islamic State splinter group called Caliphate Soldiers of Algeria.

In the footage, the man calls on French President Francois Hollande to halt the country's intervention in Iraq.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified, the French foreign ministry said.

In a statement earlier today, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged its followers to attack citizens of the United States, France and other countries which have joined a coalition to destroy the extremist group.

If the kidnapping was carried out by militants, it would be one of the first abductions of a foreigner in the North African country since Algeria ended its decade-long war with Islamist fighters in the 1990s.

The area where the Frenchman was taken is a mountainous region which was once a stronghold for the fighters.

There have been several kidnappings targeting Algerian businessmen for extortion in the area but most were freed by security forces.

Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch, AQIM, and other groups are still active in Algeria.

France, which on Monday raised the threat level at 30 of its embassies across the Middle East and Africa, launched its first air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraq on Friday and has said everything must be done to rid the region of the group.

The United States is building an international coalition to combat the extremist Sunni Muslim force, which has seized large expanses of territory in Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate erasing borders in the heart of the Middle East.

In the last month, IS has released videos showing the beheading of British aid worker David Haines, and American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

A second British aid worker, Alan Henning is still being held by the terrorists.