Security Forces Searching for Ex-Girlfriend of French Gunman
The Guardian reports that French police are searching frantically for Hayat Boumeddiene, the ex-girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly who was killed last night after taking 14 people hostage at a kosher supermarket. Boumeddiene is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Police suspect Boumeddiene of being Coulibaly's accomplice in the fatal shooting of a female police officer on Thursday.
French special forces shot and killed Chérif and Saïd Kouachi on Friday, the brothers who masterminded the attack on satirical newspaper around the same time that Coulibaly was killed elsewhere.
According to The Guardian, Paris prosecutor said there was "constant and sustained" telephone contact between Boumeddiene and Izzana Hamyd, the wife of Chérif Kouachi—more than 500 calls last year.
Boumeddiene, Coulibaly, and Chérif Kouachi have known each other since at least 2010, the New York Times reports. The three are said to have "frequently visited" with Djamel Beghal, "French-Algerian champion of jihad who had once been imprisoned for planning an attack on the American Embassy in Paris in 2001."
The 26-year-old Boumeddiene is reportedly one of a family of seven children. She and her siblings were placed in foster care after their mother died and their father was unable to care for them. From The Guardian:
A devout Muslim, Boumeddiene lost her job as a supermarket cashier, Le Parisien reported, because she insisted on wearing the full Islamic niqab. In a 2010 police interview obtained by Le Monde, she also told police she was doubtful about the true extent of her partner's faith: "Amedy isn't really very religious. He likes having fun."
850 people were deployed across the greater Paris area searching for Boumeddiene on Saturday, the New York Times reports, as the Defense Ministry announced that it would add another 250 soldiers. The ministry said that it would add another 250 tomorrow.
Meanwhile, as the search intensifies, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared war against radical Islam on Saturday. "It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity," Valls said.
The New York Times also reports that a European intelligence official said that Boumeddiene might have been seen in Turkey on Saturday morning.
Correction, 2:55 p.m. – An earlier version of this post misidentified Coulibaly as one of the gunmen who attacked Charlie Hebdo. Coulibaly had strong ties to the gunmen but did not participate in that attack.
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