Amedy Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene named as suspects in Clarissa Jean-Philippe killing case

Amedy Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene have been named as suspects wanted in connection with the killing of policewoman Clarissa Jean-Philippe in Montrouge on January 8 and an ongoing hostage siege at a kosher grocery in a Paris suburb.

Amedy Coulibaly, 32, and his girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, are described as “armed and dangerous”.

The man is also believed to be behind the siege at a kosher grocery in Porte de Vincennes in which two people have reportedly died and at least five people are being held hostage, including women and children.

Amedy Coulibaly reportedly told police: “You know who I am and I’m going to keep these hostages until the siege in Dammartin is lifted.”

Just like the Kouachi brothers, who are believed to be behind Charlie Hebdo attack that left dead 12 people, Amedy Coulibaly was part of the “Buttes-Chaumont network” that helped send would-be jihadists to fight for al-Qaeda in Iraq. 

Amedy Coulibaly was named along with Cherif Kouachi in connection with the 2010 prison escape plot for another Islamist, Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, who bombed the Paris subway in 1995, which injured 30 people.

In 2013, Amedy Coulibaly was condemned to five years in prison for the Belkacem escape plot – but got out of jail just two months ago.

Amedy Coulibaly and Cherif Kouachi were followers of convicted terrorist Djamel Beghal, according to Le Monde. The two visited Djamel Beghal’s home in Murat in the south of France, according to telephone conversations.

Hayat Boumeddiene has been Amedy Coulibaly’s partner since 2010 and lived in his home while he was serving a prison sentence.

Clarissa Jean-Philippe was shot in the vicinity of Amedy Coulibaly’s intended target – a Jewish primary school, CNN reported.