French Authorities Identified Terrorist Suspects Who Murdered Two Police Officers and Slaughtered 10 Journalists at Charlie Hebdo … Said Kouachi, Cherif Kouachi & Hamyd Mourad (Update: Mourad Surrends to Police)

Terror suspects ID’d in Charlie Hebdo slaughter …

Three terrorist suspects have been ID’d in the shooting rampage in Paris, France as two police officers and 10 journalists at Charlie Hebdo were murdered. France’s prime minister, Manuel Valls, said the three Islamofascists suspects are brothers, 32 year old  Cherif Kouachi, 34 year old Said Kouachi and 18 year old Mourad Hamyd. The brothers were known to intelligence services. It is currently unknown what the relationship of the 18 year old is to the two brothers. AFP reported that they had been spotted at a petrol station in northern France.

Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi are both wanted by police in connection with Wednesday’s terror attack on a French satirical newspaper. (Image source: French police)

CHERIF KOUACHI

The younger of the two brothers being hunted by French authorities had already spent time in jail for links to terrorism.

Cherif Kouachi, a 32-year-old French citizen, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 for being part of a jihadist recruitment ring in Paris that sent fighters to join the conflict in Iraq.

He was arrested in January 2005, at the age of 22, when he and another man were about to set off for Syria, via which they planned to reach Iraq where war was raging.

Kouachi’s lawyer Vincent Ollivier said at the time that his client’s profile was more “pot-smoker from the projects than an Islamist.”

But at trial, Kouachi was described as coming under the influence of a radical Muslim preacher, Farid Benyettou, at the Addawa mosque in Paris’s 19th arrondissement.

SAID KOUACHI

Much less is known about the elder Kouachi brother, who doesn’t appear to have as high a profile as his younger sibling.

Said Kouachi is 34 and also a citizen of France, according to French authorities.

CNN affiliate BFMTV reported that police found an ID document of Said Kouachi during the investigation.

“It was their only mistake,” said Dominique Rizet, BFMTV’s police and justice consultant.

The photo of Said Kouachi released by police shows him with close cropped dark hair and a short beard on his chin. He’s wearing a gray top with a collar.

BFMTV reported that like his brother, he was born in Paris and was known to police.

The Liberation report suggested that at the time of Cherif Kouachi’s arrest in 2005, the two brothers were both staying in Paris with a French man who had converted to Islam.

Said Kouachi’s name came to the attention of police during the investigation into the 2010 prison-break plot, but there wasn’t enough evidence to keep investigating him, Le Monde reported.

Click HERE or on PIC to watch VIDEO

UPDATE I: 18  year old Mourad Hamyd turns himself in and surrenders to police after learning his name was linked to the attacks in the news.

 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, has surrendered to authorities in France. The two other suspects, identified by French police as Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, who brothers in their early 30s, are currently still at large.

The 18-year-old Mourad is believed to be the suspect who stayed on the street as the two older brothers committed the shooting in Charlie Hebdo’s offices, killing 12 people.

U.S. Airstrikes Kill 3 Top ISIS Leaders (Haji Mutazz, Abd al Basit & Radwan Talib)

GOOD RIDDANCE …

U.S. airstrikes have killed two top-level and one mid-level ISIS leader, Haji Mutazz was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s deputy in Iraq; Abd al Basit was his military emir in Iraq; and Radwan Talib was his Mosul emir.

CNN:

U.S. airstrikes have killed two top-level and one mid-level ISIS leader, a senior U.S. military official tells CNN.

Haji Mutazz was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s deputy in Iraq; Abd al Basit was his military emir in Iraq; and Radwan Talib was his Mosul emir. Their deaths resulted from multiple strikes going back to mid-November — it has taken until now to determine conclusively they were killed.

“I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby, in a statement on Thursday.

“We believe that the loss of these key leaders degrades ISIL’s ability to command and control current operations against Iraqi Security Forces, including Kurdish and other local forces in Iraq,” he said.

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, December 16, 2014 – Looks Like Australian Authorities Knew How to Deal with the Lone Gunman

• Islamist radical, Man Haron Monis was killed by authorities when they heard gunshots being fired. Monis and two hostages were killed by gun fire. No word yet on who’s gun killed two hostages

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, December 16, 2014 Download

American Photojournalist Luke Somers Held Hostage in Yemen Killed by al Qaeda During a Failed Rescue Operation

Thirty-three year old Luke Somers, the American photojournalist held hostage in Yemen, was killed by al-Qaeda terrorists during a failed rescue operation overnight. According to reports, at least 10 AQAP terrorists holding Somers were killed in the mission.  A South African teacher from the Relief group Gift of the Givers, Pierre Korkie, also being held by al Qaeda terrorists was killed. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the attempt to free the captives was justified; “There were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers’ life was in imminent danger.”  Earlier this week,  a video was posted by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of Somers and threatened to kill him if unspecified demands were not met. Somers was kidnapped in Yemen in September 2013.

Luke Somers

American hostage Luke Somers was killed in a rescue attempt by the U.S. and Yemen Saturday.

A Yemeni national security official told Fox News Somers was still alive, but badly injured when U.S. special operation forces reached him in the rescue mission.

He had been injured by Al Qaeda militants during the raid. He would later die being transported to a U.S. Navy ship of Yemen.

Numerous AQAP terrorists holding the hostages captive were killed in the mission.

President Obama released a statement early Saturday morning condemning the “barbaric murder” of Somers by the Al Qaeda terrorists.

Obama said he ordered the rescue mission attempt Friday.

Obama, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry all expressed their condolences to Somers’ family.

Reuters – U.S., South African hostages in Yemen killed in rescue attempt:

Major General Ali al-Ahmadi, chief of the national security bureau in Yemen, said Somers was killed during the raid and other hostages held by the group had been taken to field hospitals, but gave no details about them or their condition.

Somers was removed from the scene but died later from a wound he suffered during the rescue attempt, a senior official in the Yemeni president’s office said.

Relief group Gift of the Givers said teacher Pierre Korkie was also killed.

ISIS Terrorists Claims They Have Beheaded American Hostage Peter Kassig

ISIS BEHEADS AMERICAN HOSTAGE PETER KASSIG.

ISIS appears to have done it again. In a VIDEO, ISIS terrorists claim to have beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig. That now makes the 5th Westerner that ISIS has brutally murdered. The 26 year old Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, as he converted to Islam, was an aid worker in Syria prior to his capture. Kassig was a U.S. soldier and returned to the Middle East  as a medical worker, feeling compelled to help victims of war. Kassig’s parents had previously asked for mercy for their some; however, as we all know … ISIS has no mercy.

Kassig was an Army veteran who served in the Iraq war before he was honorably discharged for medical reasons in 2007.

Kassig later became an emergency medical technician and volunteered as a medical assistant in border hospitals in Lebanon in 2012, treating Palestinian refugees and those fleeing from the Syrian conflict.

In the fall of 2012, Kassig founded an NGO called SERA, Special Emergency Response and Assistance, eventually moving its base of operations to Turkey, according to a family spokesman. From there Kassig “sourced and delivered food and medical supplies to the growing [refugee] camps on both sides of the Syrian border.” He also gave primary trauma care to children caught in the crossfire.

CNN:

Militants claim to have beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig in a video published to the Internet on Sunday, purportedly from terror group ISIS.
ISIS reportedly beheads Peter Kassig.

The video shows the aftermath of a beheading, in which the victim is not clearly recognizable. CNN has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the video nor the identity of the victim.

Kassig, 26, who converted to Islam in captivity, also went by the name Abdul-Rahman Kassig.

He went to the Middle East as a U.S. soldier and returned as a medical worker, feeling compelled to help victims of war.

He did aid work in Syria, where he was captured. He was held hostage for over a year.

Kassig’s parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, acknowledged the reports of their son’s death in a statement and said they would wait for government confirmation of their authenticity. They asked for privacy.

UPDATE I: Western Leaders React To Peter Kassig Beheading Video Posted By Islamic State.

Leaders of Australia and the U.K., as well as a representative of the U.S. National Security Council, have publicly denounced the contents of a video that allegedly shows members of the Islamic State militant group in Syria beheading Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an American aid worker who was born Peter Kassig. The militant group formerly known as either ISIL or ISIS purportedly posted the video online Sunday: It appears to show so-called Jihadi John, a militant responsible for previous hostage beheadings, holding Kassig’s head.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott denounced the footage at a press conference covered by the Guardian. Abbott would not comment on the video’s authenticity or whether he had seen any additional footage, saying only that the Islamic State group should be called a death cult.

British Prime Minister David Cameron posted on Twitter earlier Sunday, saying  he was horrified by what he called Kassig’s “cold-blooded murder”