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| Africa North |
| Algeria finds body of beheaded Frenchman |
| 2015-01-16 |
| [NEWS.YAHOO] Algerian troops found the body of French tourist Herve Gourdel, security sources said Thursday, months after he was beheaded by jihadists demanding that France halt air strikes against the Islamic State group. The body was found buried without its head in Akbil, where Gourdel was abducted by the Jund al-Khilafa (Soldiers of the Caliphate) group, the sources said. The army had mobilised 3,000 troops to find the 55-year-old mountain guide's body and launched a new search operation on Wednesday. Excavations were carried out in Akbil and in the neighbouring town of Abu Youssef following a tip-off by an Islamist detainee, a security source told AFP. The search was headed by an elite army unit and aided by sniffer dogs. Police experts arrived at the burial site to conduct genetic tests to formally identify the body and Algeria's senior terrorism prosecutor, as well as the judge presiding over Gourdel's case, were also at the scene. |
| Posted by:Fred |