Al Qaeda's wing in North Africa has killed a French hostage in response to a raid by forces from France and Mauritania, according to a report by television network Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera says a leader of an al Qaeda group in Maghreb, the region encompassing Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania, said in an audio recording that Michel Germaneau, 78, was killed in revenge for the killing of six group members in the raid.
Mauritanian troops backed by French special forces launched the cross-border raid against the base of the group, known as AQIM, in Mali on Thursday and continued the assault for several days.
Mauritanian officials have tried to play down France's role in the raid.
