Security tightened in Algeria after French citizen murdered

Algeria’s Ministry of National Defence has tightened security in the wake of the kidnap and murder of a French citizen. The ministry has increased the number of troops used to secure cities that are home to foreign oil companies in six of its provinces.

“Over three thousand extra soldiers have been deployed to secure oil sites in Ouargla, Adrar, Illizi, Tamanrasset, Laghouat and Skdida,” revealed a security source, who asked to remain anonymous. “It was decided to increase security around foreign oil company sites after French national Herve Gordal was kidnapped and murdered by an armed group affiliated with ISIS,” he added.

The group responsible for the atrocity, which calls itself “Jund Al Khalifi in Algeria”, announced in a video on its website that it would execute the Frenchman two days after he was kidnapped in the Tizi Ouzou Province. The murder was the group’s response to the French government’s planned involvement in the international coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.