Algerian troops kill militant involved in Frenchman's beheading

Reuters
A woman places a candle near flowers and messages outside the mountain guides bureau in tribute to Frenchman Herve Gourdel, in Saint-Martin-Vesubie, September 25, 2014. REUTERS/Patrice Masante

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian security forces have killed a second militant involved in the kidnapping and beheading of a French tourist in September, the Algerian justice minister said on Thursday. Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria killed Herve Gourdel in the mountains east of Algiers, where the Frenchman had been planning a trekking trip before he was kidnapped in September. "We have identified and killed the second terrorist involved in the killing of French citizen Herve Gourdel, and the investigation is still ongoing," Justice Minister Tayeb Louh told reporters. He gave no details or timing of the operation. The Caliphate Soldiers, an Al Qaeda splinter group which has allied itself to Islamic State, claimed responsibility for Gourdel's killing, saying it was in retaliation for France's intervention in Iraq. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Writing by Patrick Markey, Editing by Angus MacSwan)