A Yemeni faction of Al-Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the recent attack on the French publication, Charlie Hebdo.
No explanation has been offered as to why it has taken the group a week to claim responsibility for the attack, the connection has not been confirmed, nor have any other groups taken responsibility for the attack.
Peter Neumann, an expert on terrorism at Kings College in London told the New York Times that this delay was not at all unusual, and supported the credibility of this claim.
“It make sense in terms of what attackers themselves said, their background and also the professionalism of the operation itself,” he said by email.
The attacks are described as consistent with the model of Al-Qaeda operations as of late, with less central control from leadership.
The attacks appear to reflect what analysts have described as an evolution in Qaeda tactics and logistics. Because of heightened surveillance, operatives are trained and assigned general targets, but details on how to carry out the operation are no longer micromanaged by the organization.
The looser command structure reduces communication, and thus reduces the chance of intercepts by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
The video references to the two brothers implicated in the attack, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, praising them as “heroes of lone jihad.”
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