Washington: The two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had been on a US terror watch list "for years," a US law enforcement official said on Thursday.
Cherif and Said Kouachi, who are believed to have shot dead 12 people on Wednesday in the magazine's Paris headquarters, had been "on our watch list for years," the official told AFP.
The brothers, who were still on the run late on Thursday, were both flagged in a US database as terror suspects, and also on the no-fly list, meaning they were barred from flying into the United States.
Said Kouachi spent "a few months" in Yemen in 2011, receiving training from Al Qaeda's affiliate there in small arms combat and marksmanship among other skills, the New York Times reported, citing a senior US official.
Elite French security forces deployed helicopters in the night-time manhunt for the brothers in northern France, where the two suspects were identified as having held up a gas station.
Islamic State, the militant group sowing terror across swathes of Iraq and Syria and calling for global jihad, hailed the brothers as "heroes" on its Al-Bayan radio station.
Cherif and Said Kouachi, who are believed to have shot dead 12 people on Wednesday in the magazine's Paris headquarters, had been "on our watch list for years," the official told AFP.
The brothers, who were still on the run late on Thursday, were both flagged in a US database as terror suspects, and also on the no-fly list, meaning they were barred from flying into the United States.
Said Kouachi spent "a few months" in Yemen in 2011, receiving training from Al Qaeda's affiliate there in small arms combat and marksmanship among other skills, the New York Times reported, citing a senior US official.
Islamic State, the militant group sowing terror across swathes of Iraq and Syria and calling for global jihad, hailed the brothers as "heroes" on its Al-Bayan radio station.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
2 Suspected Bangladeshi Terrorists Arrested From Guwahati Railway Station The Al Qaeda Plot To Kill Ex-US President Bill Clinton That History Nearly Forgot Hate Preachers From Pak, Afghanistan, Indonesia To Be Blocked From Entering UK: Report "Relocate To Vizag": Andhra Minister To IT Firms Amid Karnataka Quota Row UP BJP Rejig Soon? State Chief Offers To Quit Over Poll Drubbing: Sources Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms "Animal Cruelty": Abu Dhabi's First Owl Cafe Goes Viral, Internet Angry Madras High Court's Big Rebuke To Probe Agency In Illegal Sand Mining Row 12 Maoists Killed In 6-Hour Encounter In Maharashtra's Gadchiroli Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.