An al-Qaeda terrorist splinter group has kidnapped a French citizen in Algeria and announced on Monday that it will execute him unless France ends its participation in airstrikes against so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] in Iraq.

In a video that appeared on social media, a masked member of a group calling itself the so-called "Jund al-Khilafah" [Soldiers of the "Caliphate"], warned French President Francois Hollande that it would execute the hostage if France does not end its military actions against Daesh.

The Frenchman appeared in the video flanked by two armed masked men and said he was taken hostage by the group on Sunday and reiterated its demands that French airstrikes end.

The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the kidnapping of a French citizen in Algeria, but did not identify him or his kidnappers.

Additionally, France on Monday urged nationals living in or traveling to some 30 countries to exercise "utmost caution".
The foreign ministry said it had sent a warning note to its embassies "in around 30 countries" in Africa and the Middle East.

The threat came a day after the spokesman for Daesh, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, urged followers to kill Europeans and Americans, and "especially the spiteful and filthy French." The group has already beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker.

French forces joined the US on September 19 in carrying out airstrikes against Daesh in Iraq.

The so-called "Jund al-Khilafah" group broke away from the al-Qaeda's North African branch in recent weeks and has pledged allegiance to Daesh, which has emerged as a brutal rival to al-Qaeda.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team