11 Jan 2015

Islamic State militants video appears to show Paris gunman

A video emerges appearing to show Paris terrorist Amedy Coulibaly pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants.

The clip was reportedly posted by the militant group on Twitter – two days after the 32-year-old attacked a Jewish supermarket in the French capital, killing four people.

It shows him in several different locations and wearing a number of outfits including traditional Islamic dress, combat fatigues and western clothing such as a black leather jacket, while he is also seen posing with automatic weapons.

During the footage Coulibaly, who died when police stormed the Kosher store on Friday, discusses how he worked alongside the brothers who massacred 12 people at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

‘Soldier of the caliphate’

He discusses his motivation for the rampage, claiming that it was “justified” after “attacks” on Islamic State militants.

The seven-minute video opens with Coulibaly working out and doing press-ups, followed by text describing him as a “soldier of the caliphate” and the “author” of an attack in Montrouge – during which a police officer was killed on Thursday.

The caption goes on: “The next day he conducted an attack … in which he took 17 people hostage and executed five Jews.”

It also claims he put an explosive charge on a car which detonated on a Paris street.

Text is shown posing the question: “To which group do you belong?”

Coulibaly then appears on screen wearing a bandana and apparently speaking from a pre-written Arabic script in front of a white background, which includes an image of a black emblem used by Islamic State militants.