Al-Qaida Militant in Charlie Hebdo Attack Killed, Group Says
MUKALLA, Yemen, May 7 (UPI) — Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula militant who claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, has been killed, the terror group said.
A video statement from an AQAP spokesman said al-Ansi was killed in a U.S.drone strike, SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorist monitoring organization, said. The video said al-Ansi was killed in April in the port city of Mukalla, Yemen.
A U.S. official confirmed al-Ansi was dead but didn’t say whether it was from a drone strike or when his death took place, CNN reported.
Al-Ansi appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the attack on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. That attack, perpetrated by brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, left 12 people dead and led to a massive manhunt that ended with both gunmen dying in a police standoff.
Al-Ansi encouraged would-be jihadists to plan attacks in their home countries if possible.
“If he is capable to wage individual jihad in the Western countries that fight Islam — such as America, Britain, France, Canada and others of the countries that represent the head of disbelief in waging war against Islam….If he is capable of that, then that is better and more harmful,” al-Ansi said.
