Al-Qaeda Threatens Charlie Hebdo of Repeat 2015 Massacre

PARIS, KOMPAS.com – Al-Qaeda has threatened French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo with a repeat of a 2015 massacre of its staff following the reprinting of its controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons, the SITE observatory said on Friday.

In its publication One Ummah, Al-Qaeda warned Charlie Hebdo that the French publication is mistaken if it believes that the deadly 2015 attack was a “one off”.

The French publication made reprints of its Prophet Mohammed cartoons to mark the start of the trial in Paris of suspected accomplices in the attack.

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The comments came in an English edition of the Al-Qaeda publication that purported to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States carried out by the terror network.

It said it had the "same message" for the France of President Emmanuel Macron as it did for his predecessor Francois Hollande who was president at the time of the 2015 attacks.

It said France under Macron "gave a green light" to the republication of the cartoons.

Twelve people, including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed on January 7, 2015, when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi went on a gun rampage at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, whose no-taboo style, including publishing cartoons of the prophet, had divided the country.

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The trial, which began on September 2 and is expected to continue until November, sees 14 suspected accomplices face justice even though all the perpetrators were killed in the wake of the attacks.