French Hostage Killed by Militants in Algeria

Group has connections to ISIS

An Algerian extremist group linked to the Islamic State has decapitated a French hostage in retaliation for France's airstrikes against militants, French President Francois Hollande confirmed Wednesday. 

A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah said after abducting Herve Gourdel on Sunday that he would be killed within 24 hours unless France ended its airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

Terrorism watchdog SITE Intelligence Group distributed a video by Jund al-Khilafah Wednesday announcing Gourdel's death.  The group said the video had been posted on Twitter.

Gourdel, a 55-year-old mountaineering guide from Nice, was seized in mountains of northern Algeria.