“Tawhid and Jihad” claims abduction of three European aid workers in Western Sahara

MAP- An AQIM splinter group called the “Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa” claims the abduction of three Europeans in south Algeria.

According to the French Press Agency (AFP), the leader of this terrorist group, Hamada Ould Mohamed El Kheiri, from Mauritania asserted that his group called “Tandim Ettawhid Waljihad Fi Gharb Ifriqia” (Unity Movement for Jihad in West Africa) kidnapped three Europeans, two Spanish and an Italian, in camp of Saharawi Refugee Camps and threatens the French government of an “All-out war for its hostility to Islam and Muslims”.

A former AQIM leader, Ould Mohamed El Kheiri, announced in a video seen by AFP that his new splinter group was behind the kidnapping of the three Europeans in Rabuni camp, south of Algeria.

AFP also reported that this leader appeared with black glasses and a turban, and threatens the French in this video, showing the European hostages.

Ould Mohamed spoke, according to the same agency, about the beliefs of his group and its visions, asserting on the need to “Jihad in Africa until the application of Sharia laws”, adding that “Jihad will be issued to every place in the world because it is necessary” and that “They are doing it for Allah sake”, calling upon his fellows to be ready for Jihad with everything they have.

The hostages, a Spanish man and woman and an Italian woman, can be heard identifying themselves in their own languages.