(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Algeria's TV Monday confirmed that a French man, identified as Herve Pierre Gourdel, was kidnapped by a militant group in Tikja, 120 km east of the capital Algiers.
Gourdel is a 55-year old mountaineer who arrived here last Saturday; he and some Algerians were on a vehicle when gunmen stopped them in Tikja, a ski resort located in a mountain range named Djurdjura, in the province of Bouira, northern Algeria.
The armed group released Algerians and took the French national to unknown place. Algerian army started searching for the man and the perpetrators, according to the TV report. The French man appeared in a video released by the group called the Caliphate Soldiers in Algeria, a splinter group of Al-Qaeda. In the video the man appealed for the French president not to intervene in the combat against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - another offshoot of Al-Qaeda.
The group threated to kill the man if President Francois Hollande does not stop military operations against ISIL.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.