islamic state watch

French Hostage-Taker Pledges Allegiance to ISIS in Posthumous Video

Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people inside of a kosher grocery store outside Paris before he was shot by French officers, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a video posted online on Sunday. In the footage, first reported by the Associated Press, the 32-year-old Frenchman also describes his relationship with Said and Cherif Kouachi, the men responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack. (The Kouachi brothers, for their part, were reportedly loyal to Al Qaeda in Yemen.) 

I pledged allegiance to the caliphate as soon as the caliphate was declared,” says Coulibaly, referring to ISIS. Speaking about last week’s shootings, he explains, “My brothers, our team divided things in two. We did things a little bit separately, a little bit together … We managed to synchronize.” He also claims to have given the Kouachis “several thousand euros” so they could carry out their part of the plan. 

What we are doing is completely justified,” says Coulibaly toward the end of the recording. “We are avenging the Prophet. We, the Islamic State, attack you.” The authorities are still looking for Coulibaly’s girlfriend, 26-year-old Hayat Boumediene, who, along with Coulibaly, is reportedly suspected in the shooting of a cop before the market hostage situation. Boumediene, who investigators say exchanged 500 phone calls with Cherif Kouachi over the past year, is believed to have fled France, possibly for Syria.

Coulibaly Pledges Allegiance to ISIS in Video