US watchdog: extremists linked to Islamic State group have killed French hostage in Algeria

In this still image from video published on the Internet on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, by a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, members of the group stand behind French mountaineer Herve Gourdel just before beheading him. In the video, the men pledge their allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, before killing Gourdel, 55, who they abducted on Sunday, Sept. 21. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

French President Francois Hollande speaks at the UN Security Council summit on foreign terrorist, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (The Associated Press)

Algerian military trucks are pictured in the Tizi Ouzou region, northern Algeria, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2014, as troops conduct search operations in the bid to find French hostage, Herve Gourdel, who was kidnapped by militants. The Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State group have decapitated a French hostage after France carried out airstrikes in Iraq, according to a video that appeared online Wednesday. French President Francois Hollande condemned the killing of Herve Gourdel and said France would continue its fight against the Islamic State group, which are Sunni militants that have taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)