Al-Qaeda in Yemen says France is now their top enemy
An al-Qaeda leader in Yemen announced last week that France has replaced the United States as their top enemy.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish said the change is due to the "weakening" of the US in the "war on Islam."
AQAP also took responsibility for the January 7 Charlie Hebdo attacks in a video featuring another AQAP leader, Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi. The Paris assault by Saïd and Chérif Kouachi left 12 people dead.
While it is unclear whether AQAP ordered the attack at Charlie Hebdo, at least one of the brothers allegedly met with senior al-Qaeda recruiter and cleric Anwar al-Awlaki before he was killed in an airstrike in 2011.
Al-Rubaish's video, published on YouTube on Friday, called for attacks on the West, and specifically named France as a target. The militants also encouraged attacks on anyone who mocked the Prophet Muhammad, and said those assaults could be carried out "without consulting anyone."
Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier was targeted in a previous propaganda campaign, and was among those killed last month.
AQAP was formed in 2009 after militants in Saudi Arabia joined those in Yemen.
The organisation was behind an attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines plane in December 2009, the attempted bombing of two US cargo planes in October 2010, and another failed airline bomb plot on May 2012.
US officials consider AQAP the most dangerous branch of Al-Qaeda.
