Translation of Paris Terrorist Video Claiming He Acted on Behalf of Islamic State

Editor’s note: Thanks to Alexandra Matine for translating comments in French into English.

Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people before he was killed by French police in the siege at a kosher market, appears in a new video released on a forum associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The video and an English translation are below.

What group do you belong to and do you have an emir?

Caption: AbdAllah pledges allegiance to the Caliph Ibrahim.

I am firstly addressing the caliph of the Muslims [name in Arabic], the Caliph Ibrahim. I pledged allegiance to the Caliph as soon as the caliphate was declared.

[speaks Arabic]

Are you connected to the brothers who attacked Charlie-Hebdo?

Caption: AbdAllah gives details of the operation.

The brothers of our team, divided in two, they did Charlie Hebdo Al-ḥamdu lillāh. I also went out a bit against the police.

So yeah, we did things a bit together, a bit separate, in order to have more impact.

I helped in his project and gave him a few thousand euros so he could finish buying what he had to buy.

We managed to synchronise, to get out at the same time and not create problems because we are close and in the same affair.

Why did you attack, France, Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish grocery store?

Caption: AbdAllah gives reasons for the attacks.

What we are doing it totally legitimate, seeing what they are doing. Revenge on the prophet [inaudible] mash’Allah. It is fully deserved and has been for a long time. If you attack the caliphate, if you attack the Islamic state, we attack you. You cannot attack and not get anything in return. So you victimise yourselves, as if you didn’t understand what’s going on, over a few deaths, so that you and your coalition, which you are almost at the head of now, you regularly bomb over there, you have invested forces, you kill civilians, you kill fighters, you kill … why? Because we apply the sharia? Even in our countries we are not allowed to apply the sharia now. You decide of what’s happening on Earth? Is that it? No. We won’t let this happen. We will fight, inch’Allah. To elevate the word of Allah [inaudible].

What is your advice for the Muslims of France?

AbdAllah encourages the Muslims to fight.

I am speaking to my Muslim brothers, everywhere and particularly in Western countries. And I ask them: What are you doing? What are you doing my brothers?

What do you do when there is a direct combat [words in Arabic], when there is direct combat [words in Arabic]. What do you do when they insult the Prophet, repeatedly? What do you do when they harass us? What do you do when they slaughter entire populations? What do you do when in front of your house your brothers and sisters are held captive by these [inaudible]? What do you do? [Speaks Arabic]

Since I got out, I moved a lot, I went to many different mosques in France a little bit, mostly in the region of Paris. They are full, mash’Allah. They are filled with men full of vigour, they are filled with young athletes, they are filled with healthy men. How come, with these thousands, millions of people, there aren’t as many to defend Islam?