CONSPIRATOR

U.S. Airstrike Kills Militant Linked to Hebdo Attack

Boubaker el Hakim allegedly mentored the gunmen.

An Islamic State leader connected to the deadly attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was killed in U.S. airstrike in Syria, U.S. military officials said Friday. Boubaker el Hakim, 33, was reportedly killed in a November 26 strike on Raqqa, and was a mentor of sorts to the brothers who killed 12 people at the French paper’s headquarters in January 2015. He was originally arrested in Syria and sent to France and convicted in 2008. Following his release three years later, el Hakim is believed to have moved to Tunisia and later claimed credit in 2014 for the assassinations of two political leaders. According to documents obtained by the AP, el Hakim also moved back and forth between Syria and Iraq using smugglers and fellow jihadists.