Intelligence services identify second French jihadi in Islamic State


19-11-2014 11:53 PM

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - France’s intelligence services have reportedly identified a second French jihadi in an Islamic State propaganda video showing the killing of American hostage Peter Kassig and 18 Syrian soldiers.

The man was named as Michaël Dos Santos, 22, from Champigny-sur-Marne, a suburb about eight miles from the centre of Paris.

The Paris prosecutor’s office refused to confirm the information but admitted there were “strong suggestions” the man in the video was Dos Santos, who was named in the French press and on public television. Maxime Hauchard, 22, from Normandy, was identified by French authorities on Monday.

Le Monde said both men were named in court documents opening a legal investigation for “assassination by an organised group linked to a terrorist organisation”.

Dos Santos, it added, goes by the name of Abou Othman, and is believed to have left France to join the Isis forces in Syria a year ago.

His Twitter account shows gruesome photographs of beheaded female Kurdish fighters.

A tweet on 5 October reads: “The enemy’s women carry out training to fight us and you my brothers continue to stay in France?”

Meanwhile, France has said it will send six fighter planes to Jordan to strengthen air attacks against Isis positions in Iraq. The Mirage 2000 planes will be stationed at an unnamed base near the Jordanian border with Iraq and Syria.

The decision needs final approval from the French president, François Hollande, but the ministry of defence says the planes are ready to go and will join nine Rafale aircraft currently stationed in the United Arab Emirates, a refuelling C135-FR, an Atlantique 2 sea patrol ship and an anti-aircraft frigate already in the region.

“The idea is to reinforce our air capacity to bomb Islamic State positions more efficiently,” a high-ranking military officer told Le Parisien.

French aircraft have been carrying out an average of two reconnaissance flights per day for the last two months since Operation Chammal began. Military officers said collecting information on Isis positions and bases was “a bit fastidious, but necessary”. French planes have also carried out 12 air strikes against the Islamist positions.

The French foreign ministry announced it was sending more humanitarian aid to help displaced people in Iraq bringing the total amount of aid sent by France to Iraq to €5.2m (£4.2m).

*The Guardian




  • no comments

Notice
All comments are reviewed and posted only if approved.
Ammon News reserves the right to delete any comment at any time, and for any reason, and will not publish any comment containing offense or deviating from the subject at hand, or to include the names of any personalities or to stir up sectarian, sectarian or racial strife, hoping to adhere to a high level of the comments as they express The extent of the progress and culture of Ammon News' visitors, noting that the comments are expressed only by the owners.
name : *
email
show email
comment : *
Verification code : Refresh
write code :