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How was Amedy Coulibaly connected to the Charlie Hebdo attackers?

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Map of central Paris showing locations targeted during the November 13, 2015 attacks, marked with numbered circles. The map includes symbols for explosion and shooting locations and outlines the city boundary. A timeline on the left lists each attack site and event details, including Stade de France, Rue Alibert, La Casa Nostra, La Belle Equipe, Bataclan, Cafe Comptoir Voltaire, and Saint-Denis. — Paris attacks of 2015 Significant sites related to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.

Amedy Coulibaly was connected to the Charlie Hebdo attackers, brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, through long-standing personal and criminal ties. The men had previously met and interacted while in prison, where they associated with other Islamists.1

Furthermore, Coulibaly and Chérif Kouachi were suspected of involvement in a 2010 plot to help a former member of an Algerian Islamist group escape from prison. While the case against Kouachi was eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence, Coulibaly was convicted and served time for his role in the scheme.1

During the January 2015 attacks, it was confirmed that Coulibaly had been in contact with the Kouachi brothers and that they had coordinated their actions, despite pledging allegiance to different militant organizations—the Kouachis to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Coulibaly to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. During his hostage-taking at a Paris supermarket, Coulibaly explicitly attempted to force police to release the Kouachi brothers.12