Somali militants with links to al-Qaeda today posted sickening photographs of what they claim is a French soldier killed in Saturday's failed rescue mission of a fellow countryman held hostage.Three pictures posted on Twitter show a white man wearing military pants and a blood-soaked shirt surrounded by three guns, ammunition clips and protective gear.Militant Islamist group al-Shabab taunt the dead man's religion in their posts writing 'A return of the crusades, but the cross could not save him from the sword,’ and asking president Francois Hollande if it was 'worth it'.

In addition to the Twitter postings, al-Shabab released a longer statement that appeared to mix exaggerated boasts with fact. The group said that the operation resulted in the deaths of ‘several’ French forces and injured ‘many more.’

The militants said the commander leading the operation was among those wounded, and that al-Shabab ‘paramedic teams’ transferred him to a hospital where he died.

Despite French claims about Mr Allex being killed, al-Shabab insisted he was still alive – and had not even been in the village.