France Reacts To Beheading Of French Citizen

The French president's office says security is being increased in public places, and on public transport following the beheading of French citizen Herve Gourdel by Algerian extremists affiliated with the militant group ISIS.

The extremists said the killing was following the instruction of ISIS's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to kill French citizens in retaliation for France's involvement in airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq.

The Algerian group — calling itself Jund al-Khlafah — captured Gourdel on Sunday and said they would kill him unless France ended airstrikes within 24 hours.

Gourdel was a mountaineering guide from Nice. He was hiking in the mountains of northern Algeria.

NPR's international correspondent Eleanor Beardsley joins Here & Now's Robin Young with the reaction in France.