Al-Qaeda in Maghreb claims kidnap of two French men, three other Europeans

The Mauritanian news agency ANI, which has has carried statements from Aqim in the past, said the group released the pictures to support a statement issued a day earlier in which it claimed responsibility for the abductions.

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One photo shows two of the hostages, French nationals Serge Lazarevic and Philippe Verdon, with three armed men behind them.

The other shows the three others being held – a Briton, a Swede and a Dutch national - surrounded by four armed men.

All the armed men’s faces are covered by turbans.

On Thursday, Aqim sent a statement to ANI and AFP's Rabat office, accusing the two French nationals of working for the French intelligence service.

The kidnappings were "in response to repeated aggression in France against Muslims from Sahel countries," and "a legitimate reaction against" the European country's policies, the statement read.

The kidnapping took place in Mali because of “the unjustified implication of the government of Amadoy Toumany Touré under pressure from France” against its fighters.

"We will soon make our demands known to France and Mali," it added.

Lazarevic and Verdon were seized at gunpoint from their hotel in the town of Hombori near the border with Niger on 24 November.

The next day gunmen snatched a Swede, a Dutchman and a man with dual British-South African nationality from a restaurant on Timbuktu's central square. They killed a German who tried to resist.

The Aqim statement denied the group carried out an October kidnapping of three European aid workers - two Italians and a Spaniard - from a refugee camp in Tindouf, western Algeria.