Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Claims Responsibility for Charlie Hebdo Attack

The terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the terror rampage in France that began when gunmen assaulted the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 12.

The New York Times reports AQAP made the claim of responsibility in a video and press release sent to journalists around the globe. US intelligence has determined that the video itself is authentic, but have yet to confirm if the claim within the video is itself true.

AQAP said they chose Charlie Hebdo because of its history of drawing offensive images of the Prophet Muhammad. Islam forbids the creation of images of the Prophet or God, regardless of the intent of those images or their medium.

AQAP also said they financed the operation and planned how exactly the attack would take place.

The Yemen based group operates with relative ease because that country is in the midst of wrenching political turmoil that has seen street battles and car bombings. It was known that one of the attackers had traveled to Yemen in 2011. The Times reports that at that time the attacker was given $20,000 to finance terrorist operations.

Interestingly, AQAP did not take responsibility for the attack on a kosher grocery store by a third assailant who did not participate in the Hebdo assault. The grocery store terrorist took a number of hostages and demanded that the Hebdo attackers, who were surrounded by police, be allowed to escape.

The Times reports that the grocery store hostage taker knew the Hebdo assailants, and although the grocery store terrorist claimed to be operating on behalf of the Islamic State, they chose to cooperate with each other during their deadly attacks.