Report: Al-Qaeda claims Niger kidnapping
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A purported spokesman for al-Qaeda's North Africa branch claimed responsibility Thursday for kidnapping two French nationals in Niger who later died during a failed rescue attempt.
Salah Abou Mohamed, speaking to Al-Jazeera television, said fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, abducted the two Frenchmen from Niger's capital on Jan. 7. (AP)