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ISIS-Linked Group Claims To Have Killed French Hostage

A video that appeared Wednesday seems to show the execution of a French mountaineer abducted Sunday in Algeria.
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According to multiple reports, Algerian militants linked to ISIS have killed a French mountaineer they'd held hostage.

The ISIS-linked group released a video on Tuesday showing 55-year-old Herve Gourdel from Nice. They threatened to kill him if France didn't stop military action in Iraq against ISIS. 

The bulk of those reports point to information from terror watchdog SITE Intelligence Group, which has publicized execution videos in the past.

But, as France 24 reports, the authenticity of the video is yet to be verified by French authorities, who said Tuesday they would not negotiate with the militants. 

The group is called Jund al-Khilafah, who in 2012 claimed responsibility for the 2012 Toulouse shootings, which killed seven people in France. (Video via ITN)

The group was reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda until a couple weeks ago when they switched allegiances to ISIS, which helps explain why militants in Algeria would be making demands about Iraq — more than 2,000 miles away. 

News of Gourdel's execution came within hours of President Obama's address at the United Nations, where he asked the international community to unite against militarism. (Video via The White House)

Gourdel was kidnapped Sunday in the mountainous Kabylie region of Algeria. French officials have yet to comment on Gourdel's reported killing.