The fight against jihadists in Africa's Sahel region is "achieving results", France's prime minister said in Mali on Saturday, two days after French forces killed a top extremist leader.
French armed forces have killed a top jihadist leader in an air and ground ambush in Mali, the government said on Friday, ending a years-long hunt for a man accused of masterminding the kidnapping of Westerners in the Sahel region.
A Spanish court on Saturday remanded in custody a French-Algerian man suspected of fighting for terror groups linked to Al-Qaeda in Syria before he is extradited to France.
A young French mum was left stunned this week when she was barred from boarding a flight to New York after being told she was blacklisted. The reason, she says, is the name on her passport, Alic Aïda, which when pronounced (wrongly) can sound like Al Qaeda.
France said on Thursday it was "plausible" that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the north African division of the terrorist network, had killed two French journalists in Mali last weekend - as the group earlier claimed.
Four French hostages held captive by Islamist militants in Niger since 2010 have been released, French president François Hollande announced on Tuesday.
French-Algerian Naamen Meziche, who is suspected of Al-Qaeda ties and was deported from Pakistan this week, has been charged with terror offences French judicial officials said on Saturday.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has talked down Al Qaeda’s threat to attack France's rail network, after revelations in a German newspaper this week. Valls reiterated however that “a terrorist threat is present” in France.
French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that France would close its embassy in Yemen over security fears for "several days", after Germany and Britain took the same precaution.
One of the leaders of north African branch of Al-Qaeda issued a call on Tuesday for Muslims around the world to launch attacks against French interests in retaliation for France's military intervention in Mali.
France confirmed Saturday that one of the key leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, had been killed in fighting with French-led forces in northern Mali.
A French hostage has been executed in Mali, a man claiming to be a spokesman for Al-Qaeda in North Africa told Mauritania's ANI news agency late on Tuesday. Paris has not confirmed the report.
France channeled millions of dollars in ransom payments to the Al-Qaeda-linked militants its troops are currently fighting in Mali, according to a former US ambassador in the region.
President François Hollande said on Thursday that Islamist groups holding French hostages in Africa were not trustworthy and should not be taken seriously after Al-Qaeda accused Paris of blocking negotiations for their release.
France on Wednesday presented plans for a new anti-terrorism law that will allow authorities to prosecute citizens who attend militant Islamist training camps abroad.
<p>A Tunisian administrator of a French website was in custody Wednesday after being charged in connection with financing and recruiting for Al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>Several Frenchmen who bear the same name as gunman Mohamed Merah have been targetted and harassed after the identity of the Toulouse killer was released.</p>
<p>A gang kidnapped two French nationals at gunpoint from their hotel in the Malian desert on Thursday, local security sources said, the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in the troubled region.</p>
<p>Three French aid workers who were kidnapped in southeastern Yemen are held by Al-Qaeda members who are seeking a $12 million ransom for their release, tribal sources said on Wednesday.</p>
