Mohammed Merah, the man who confessed to police that he killed 7 people in France recently, before being shot dead in an armed standoff. Photo: screenshot via France 2.

Mohammed Merah, the man who admitted to killing 7 people in France recently before being shot dead by police after an armed standoff on Thursday, was on a United States no-fly list, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The Algemeiner reported yesterday that Merah had traveled to Afghanistan and his presence there was made aware to both U.S. and French military officials.  The two countries differ on exactly how matters proceeded once Afghan police detained him at a checkpoint, but eventually Merah was sent back to France from Afghanistan.

The Wall Street Journal writes that FBI officials had been obtaining information since at least 2010 on the man who gunned down 3 children and a teacher at a Jewish school on Monday, as well as 3 French soldiers last week.

On Wednesday, French prosecutor Francois Molins said the American military had sent Merah back to France once Afghan police turned him over, but soon afterwards a U.S. military official told CNN’s Fran Townsend that it was the French who sent Merah home.  The source said that the U.S. military informed Afghan police that Merah should be turned over to the French due to his citizenship in France.