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U.S. Says Drone Strike Killed IS Leader Linked To Charlie Hebdo Attack


The Charlie Hebdo attack prompted a worldwide solidarity movement.
The Charlie Hebdo attack prompted a worldwide solidarity movement.

An Islamic State (IS) extremist group leader linked to a 2015 attack at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria, U.S. military officials say.

Officials said Boubaker el-Hakim was killed in Raqqa on November 26. He is believed to have played a role in planning the Hebdo attack and others like it, and was a top global propagandist for the group.

El-Hakim, a 33-year-old French Tunisian, was a mentor to the brothers who gunned down cartoonists at the French paper in January 2015, Said and Cherif Kouachi.

The Kouachi brothers led police on a two-day manhunt after attacking Charlie Hebdo, then hid out in a printing plant. Police surrounded the building, and the brothers were killed in a shoot-out after a daylong siege.

The attack on Charlie Hebdo killed 12 people and wounded 11 others.

The attacks prompted a worldwide solidarity movement, with the "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) slogan going viral on social media.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

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