French tourist Herve Gourdel beheading: Algeria kills leader of Caliphate Soldiers group Gouri Abdelmalek

A local television station in Algeria has claimed that the country's army has killed Gouri Abdelmalek, the leader of the militant group responsible for kidnapping and beheading French tourist Herve Gourdel.

According to Ennahar TV, the Algerian army killed the leader of the Caliphate Soldiers group and two other militants in the east of the capital Algiers.

French hiker Gourdel arrived in Algeria on Saturday 20 September 2014 and was abducted the following day while trekking in the heart of the Djurdjura National Park.

Gourdel was seized by the Islamists in Algeria's north-east area of Kabylie and later appeared in a video online.

In the video of the killing, armed militants are seen reading a statement in Arabic that states they will be "closer to God by killing this filthy Frenchman in defence of God's religion".

Gourdel is pictured kneeling in front of them.

The Islamist fighters also pledge allegiance to Islamic State (Isis) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi saying: "Here are your soldiers fighting those you fight and making peace with those you make peace with."

Before the end of the video, Gourdel was pushed over and held down.

In the next frame, he is beheaded.