The two French Muslims sought in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris were on the U.S. no-fly list and at least one had trained with al Qaeda in Yemen, according to multiple news outlets.
French authorities feared a second attack by Said and Cherif Kouachi and deployed more than 88,000 security forces in search of the brothers, The Associated Press reported.
They also distributed flyers with photographs of the men, who authorities say killed 12 people on Wednesday, calling them “armed and dangerous.”
The “no fly” list is the most restrictive of America’s terrorism-related watch lists and it means the person is viewed as a “threat to civil aviation or national security,” a U.S. official told Yahoo News.
The official would not say exactly how long the brothers, both born in France, had been on the list, which contains 47,000 names. But he said they had been on it “for years.”
According to intelligence officials, Said Kouachi trained with al Qaeda in Yemen in 2011. The information was passed on to western intelligence agencies by their French counterparts.
SEE ALSO: Charlie Hebdo terror suspects: 88K mobilized for Said and Cherif Kouachi manhunt
A French intelligence official also told CNN that evidence indicates that one of the brothers traveled to Syria within the past year.
Editors for Charlie Hebdo have vowed to continue publishing. The French newspaper Le Monde reported Thursday that 1 million copies are planned for the next issue of Charlie Hebdo.
Normal circulation for the paper is about 45,000 copies per issue, The New York Post reported Thursday.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Pompi can be reached at jpompi@washingtontimes.com.
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