Paris gunman claims to be Islamic State member in video

A man identified as Amedy Coulibaly, who took hostages at a kosher supermarket on Friday and killed a policewoman a day earlier, claimed to be a member of the terror outfit -- Islamic State -- in a video that was released on the Internet on Sunday.

In the video, Coulibaly pledges his allegiance Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the IS, adding that he was co-ordinating with the two gunmen who carried out the killings at the offices of satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.

"I am addressing myself first of all to the caliph of Muslims Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. I have declared allegiance to the caliph,” he says speaking to the camera in Arabic, according to an AFP report.

At the beginning of the video, a text identifies the man as Coulibaly.   

"The brothers of our team, they did Charlie Hebdo. I also went out against the police,” he says in the video.    

Coulibaly was shot dead by the French police as they tried to rescue hostages at the supermarket in east Paris on Friday. Four hostages were also killed in the attack.

Coulibaly ‘wife’ Hayat Boumeddiene, who allegedly helped in the attack, is on the run. She has reportedly fled to Syria.    

Image: A picture of Amedy Coulibaly released by the French police