Al-Qaeda Branch in Yemen Claims Responsibility For Charlie Hebdo Attack

The Yemen branch of the al Qaeda terror group has taken responsibility for the recent terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper headquarters in France that killed 12.

The terrorist group released a video featuring Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, admitting that the terrorist attack was a form of retribution for the newspaper's satirical cartoons that poke fun at the prophet Mohamed and other religious figures.

According to the New York Times, the 11-minute video describes the three suspects who opened fire on Charlie Hebdo headquarters as "heroes of Islam."

A statement also issued to reporters by the terrorist group adds that "the one who chose the target, laid the plan and financed the operation is the leadership of the organization."

As USA Today reports, some intelligence officials are questioning if the Yemen-based group did in fact facilitate the attacks carried out by brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi.

Evan Kohlmann, an analyst at the security firm Flashpoint Global Partners, told USA Today that although one of the brothers did visit Yemen in 2011 and receive $20,000, the amount of time that has passed since that visit proves that their terrorist attack was in part a lone-wolf strategy.

 "Given the amount of time that has passed and they didn't do anything [...] there does appear to be some other proximate cause that spurred these guys into action now," Kohlmann said.

"You would be hard-pressed to say they didn't provide some role," Kohlmann added, referring to al-Qaeda's role in the attacks.