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Paris Terrorist Suspects Killed In Raids, MI5 Warns Of Al Qaeda

French security forces stormed a printing factory outside of Paris on Friday and killed the two brothers suspected in the Charlie Hebdo massacre. At nearly the same time, the police executed a raid on a kosher supermarket located in the capital where they killed a gunman who had taken hostages, bringing a seven-hour siege to an end.

Authorities indicated that one hostage had been freed at the printing factory and fifteen had been freed at the market, however, four hostages at the supermarket had been killed, according to Israeli government officials who discussed the incident with their French counterparts, NBC News reported.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said that the four dead hostages were slain by the gunman who had taken them hostage prior to the police raid.

A member of Al Qaeda told The Associated Press on Friday that the attack against the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, came “as revenge for the honor” of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and was directed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. U.S. intelligence and counter-terrorism officials indicated that it was too early to conclude who was responsible for the 12-person massacre which took place Wednesday, Fox News reported.

Al Qaeda’s statement was released just hours after the raid by French authorities in which the two brothers suspected to have been behind the attack, as well as the terrorist compatriot who seized hostages at a Paris grocery store, were killed.

Cherif Kouachi told a French TV station prior to Friday’s raid that he was sent by Al Qaeda in Yemen and had been financed by Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Yemen back in 2011. Anwar was killed alongside Inspire magazine publisher and fellow United States citizen, Samir Khan.

Shortly after the massacre in Paris, a Twitter account known to be used by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula sent out a series of tweets with images of the Paris massacre and photos of al-Awlaki and Khan. Fox News reported and intelligence source indicated that the tweets suggest foreknowledge of the Paris attack.

U.S. government forces confirmed to Fox News that the 34-year-old Said Kouachi had traveled “to Yemen in 2011 and trained with or fought along side AQAP, and one of his goals was to meet with the Al Qaeda branch’s leadership.” A United States intelligence assessment described to The AP shows Kouachi “was trained in preparation to return home and carry out an attack.”

After the member of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Paris, The Associated Press reported that Sheikh Harith al-Nadhari, the Al Qaeda branch’s senior cleric, had issued a recording on the group’s Twitter feed in which he denounced the “filthy” French as “the heads of infidelity who insult the prophets.” He also praised the “hero mujahadeen” who he said had “taught them a lesson and the limits of freedom of speech” as he condoned the “blessed raid on Paris.” He stopped shy of directly claiming responsibility for the attack, but added, “How can we not fight those who hurt our prophet, slandered our religion and fought the faithful.” He went onto address the French while making reference to God and war.

It better for you to stop striking Muslims so you can live in peace. But if you only wish for war, then rejoice, you will not enjoy peace as long as you wage war on God and his prophets and fight Muslims.

The member discussing the incident with The Associated Press indicated that the group had delayed its official declaration of responsibility in the attack for “security reasons.”

The leadership of AQAP directed the operations and they have chosen their target carefully as revenge for the honor of the prophet […] because of its obvious role in the war on Islam and oppressed nations.

Andrew Parker, director-general of MI5, indicated that Syrian-based terrorists are planning attacks in the United Kingdom that are similar to the Paris massacre which left 12 people at Charlie Hebdo dead. The domestic security chief said that there had been more than 20 Syrian-linked terror plots against western targets in the past 14 months. He also indicated that organizations including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), were actively plotting attacks in the UK, and that more than 600 British jihadis were known to have traveled to fight in Syria, Financial Times reported. Parker commented on the gun attack which took place at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris on Wednesday in which he referred to them as “a terrible reminder of the intentions of those who wish to harm us.”

We know that terrorists based in Syria harbor the same ambitions towards the UK.

As if to reiterate MI5’s warning, Morten Storm, a former Danish motorcycle gang member who joined Al Qaeda before becoming a double agent, said that this week’s attacks in Paris are proof of sleeper cells positioned around the west which are ready to carry out new attacks.

Mr. Storm, who had first hand dealings with Al-Awlaki while working as an informant for the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), warned that “deception is their warfare,” in a conference call facilitated by Clarion Project, a New York-based terrorism research group.

One of the things that these groups believe in is that you are allowed to trick someone into believing that you stand for something else when you really have other agendas. They will act as normal members of western society.

The Al Qaeda turncoat, Morten, said that western countries must protect themselves by canceling the citizenships of homegrown radicals who travel to the Middle East in order to fight or train, Fox News reported.

What do you think the west should do to protect itself from these types of terrorist attacks?

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