The widow of Paris kosher supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly has linked up with ISIS, the terror group claims.
The second issue of an ISIS French language magazine, which began circulating on pro-ISIS Twitter accounts Wednesday, contains a purported two-page question-and-answer story with Hayat Boumeddiene, who is believed to have disappeared into Syria before the January 9 attack.
The magazine, entitled Dar al Islam, claimed Boumeddiene safely reached the Islamic State, but offered no pictures or any other proof to corroborate the claim.
French terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard told CNN the magazine appears to be an official ISIS publication and is a sign that Boumeddiene has reached ISIS.
In the article, she was asked how Coulibaly felt about ISIS’s announcement it had established a caliphate, or Islamic state, in territory spanning Syria and Iraq. He wanted to go to Syria or Iraq to fight, she reportedly answered.
Boumeddiene, 26, claimed in the purported interview that she encountered no difficulties reaching ISIS territory and she felt good to be on ISIS soil. She did not provide any details on her role in the Paris attacks.
She also gave a lengthy response to what advice she would have for Muslim women.
The new issue of Dar al Islam magazine was entitled “May Allah Curse France” and featured on its cover a picture of the Eiffel Tower being guarded by French soldiers. It also included several pictures showing the aftermath of the Paris attacks, praised Coulibaly and called for more attacks against those “insulting the Prophet.”
It claimed an associate of Coulibaly who had reached Syria had provided them a report of his positive qualities.
The first issue of Dar al Islam magazine was published on December 23 and was posted on ISIS’s official Twitter account, according to Memri, an organization tracking jihadist websites.
Boumeddiene is believed to have crossed into Syria from Turkey around the time Coulibaly started his terrorism spree in Paris. Coulibaly pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a video he emailed out before the kosher grocery store attack in which four people were killed. The recording was posted on pro-ISIS Twitter accounts.
In January, CNN obtained surveillance video that purportedly shows Coulibaly and Boumeddiene outside a Jewish institution in Paris.
A source familiar with the investigation into the Paris attacks said there was a high degree of confidence that the video shows Coulibaly and Boumeddiene.
The video was recorded at the end of August or beginning of September and stored on a security camera.
The source says the nature of the video makes it clear that the couple were carrying out surveillance of possible targets for months before Coulibaly, who is also believed to have killed a policewoman a day earlier, launched his attack against the kosher supermarket.
Coulibaly was shot to death when police stormed the market.
The video was stored because it showed possible signs of unusual activity at the location, says the source.
