French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has confirmed the abduction of a French tourist, Herve Gourdel, 55 by Algerian militant group Jund al-Khilafa, which is linked to ISIS. Algerian militant group Jund al-Khilafa threatened to kill him if France did not halt air strikes on Iraq.

Mr Fabius said an online video that showed Mr Gourdel flanked by armed men was authentic. He said France would do everything it could to liberate Mr Gourdel, but that the situation was “extremely critical.”

France on Monday raised the threat level for 30 of its embassies throughout the Middle East and Africa in response to what Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called “yet another demonstration of the barbarism of these terrorists”.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there would be “no discussion, no negotiation” with the kidnappers. “If you give in, if you go back one inch… you give [terrorism] this victory,” he told French radio while on a visit to Germany on Tuesday.