Paris Terrorist Attacks: Audio Conversations Reveal Motives and Ties

French news station RTL accidentally captured audio conversations between Amedy Coulibaly, the perpetrator of the Hypercacher siege, and hostages while he was holding at least a dozen people hostage at a Jewish supermarket on Friday. During the five-minute rant, Coulibaly blamed French military action in Mali, Syria, and the Islamic State for his actions. He also claimed that he and the Kouachi brothers synchronized their operations, with Coulibaly taking care of police officers while the brothers carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Key Takeaways:

• Amedy Coulibaly, the perpetrator of the Hypercacher siege, blamed French military action in Mali, Syria, and the Islamic State for his actions in audio conversations with hostages.
• Coulibaly claimed that he and the Kouachi brothers synchronized their operations, with Coulibaly taking care of police officers while the brothers carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
• Cherif Kouachi, one of the brothers involved in the Charlie Hebdo shooting, spoke to French media before dying in a hail of bullets, saying that he was sent by Al Qaida of Yemen and was a defender of the prophet.
• The Kouachi brothers and Amedy Coulibaly were linked to a notorious al-Qaeda terror cell.
• The siege at the grocery store ended with explosions, with the gunman confirmed dead, and four hostages feared to have been killed.
• Journalist Igor Sahiri spoke to Cherif Kouachi at about 9:45am, and later at 3pm, Coulibaly contacted the French TV station, saying he wanted to get in touch with the police.

Statistics:

• 12 hostages were held captive at the Hypercacher supermarket.
• 4 hostages were feared to have been killed during the siege.
• 1 gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, died in the explosions.
• 2 brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi, were involved in the Charlie Hebdo shooting and were killed in a simultaneous raid on a printworks.
• 1 woman police officer was murdered by Amedy Coulibaly on Thursday.
• 5 people died in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Sources:

• Le Monde
• BFMTV
• French news station RTL
• Journalist Igor Sahiri