France Stabbing Attack in Strasbourg

This is becoming almost a daily occurrence in France. On Saturday, a Kosovar refugee, armed with a knife, attempted to randomly stab a man then a woman on a bike with her two small children. He was eventually overpowered by an off-duty cop whom the suspect also attempted to stab. Once in the police car, the man reportedly was yelling, "Allahu akbar," and at the police station, reportedly told the police that "they were all going to Hell because of what they were doing in Palestine." Yet, the motive for the attack is described as not clear!!

The incident naturally attracted the attention of France's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin ( a very busy man lately) who praised the courageous action of the police officer.

The below article from Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/strasbourg-un-homme-arme-d-un-couteau-s-attaque-a-des-passants-avant-d-etre-maitrise-par-un-policier-hors-service-20230115

 Strasbourg: A man armed with a knife attacks passersby before being overpowered by off-duty policeman

By Marie-Iievine- Michalik and Jean Chichizola

Posted January 15, 2023 at 13:21, updated January 15, 2023 at 18:19

The assailant, who spoke Arabic during the acts, tried to stab a man, then a mother accompanied by her two children.

A man armed with a knife randomly strikes....Four days after the attack at Gare du Nord, the scene is repeated, this time in an Alsatian capital still traumatized by the Islamist attack of December 11, 2018. It was around 5 pm, Saturday when a man armed with a knife tried to stab a passerby on Colmar Avenue in the Strasbourg district of Meinau. The latter, frightened, rushed to his car and managed to get away. The attacker then turned to a woman on a bicycle, accompanied by her two young children. Faced with the knife pointed at her, the mother tried to resist and fell to the ground.

An off-duty policeman, seeing the acts, came running. The man, who by chance, was passing by,  according to information from the SGP Police Union, tried to overpower the assailant without his service weapon, which was left at the police station. The suspect tried to stab him in the head without success. Only the hood of his jacket was pierced. "They struggled and the policeman succeeded in immobilizing him with the help of a delivery man on a bicycle," states the police source to Figaro. Once the Specialized Field Brigade (BST) arrived, the man was arrested and placed in custody. 

Of Kosovar origin, the man, aged 31, was not known to the intelligence services for being radicalized but was listed in the files of previous judicial proceedings, specifically for illicit use of drugs in Seine-Saint Denis on February 16 and November 25, 2021. In the police car, he reportedly was chanting, "Allahu akhbar". Also according to a police source, the assailant reiterated his remarks at the police station adding: "You will all go to Hell because of what you are doing in Palestine". His psychological state is described as "unstable" by a source close to the case. An investigation has been opened and assigned to the Judicial Police.

Attempted homicide is now the likely charge, but a terrorist act is not ruled out. The motives of the assailant remain unclear. He reportedly regrets the attack against the mother but not the attack against the policeman, for whom the doctors have prescribed 45 days of disability time off.

In a state of shock, the mother was taken to the hospital-as was the policeman, who was injured in the hand and shoulder in bringing down the suspect.  The Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, praised a "courageous policeman who, while off-duty, arrested a very menacing individual. Thanks to his intervention, there are no victims to mourn."

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Sweden: Al Qaida Widow Sentenced

Hat tip Doku

A district court in Sweden has convicted Camilla Oloffson for human trafficking, aiding and abetting child rape, and forced marriage. Olaffson, who was married to a high-ranking Al-Qaida fighter who was killed in Mosul, Iraq in 2008, took her two underage daughters to the war zone and subjected them to the rule of the Islamic state and a forced marriage. She has been sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in prison.

The below article from Doku (Sweden) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://doku.nu/2023/01/09/flera-ars-fangelse-for-ankan-till-svensk-al-qaidaledare/

Several years in prison for widow of Swedish Al-Qaida leader

When Swedish-Moroccan Mohamed Moumou died in Mosul in 2008, he was the second (highest) man within Al-Qaida in Iraq. Now his Swedish widow, Camilla Olofsson, has been convicted for aiding and abetting aggravated rape against children and human trafficking of her own child. The crime was committed in Syria during the rule of the Islamic State.

Mohamed Moumou was trained in an Al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan and left Sweden when he was listed as a terrorist by the UN in 2006. He died in a drone attack in Mosul in 2008. By that time, he had climbed to the position of the number 2 man within Al-Qaida in Iraq.

According to security police, his widow, Camilla Olofsson, and other members of the family have been within the radical Islamist environment even after the death of Mohamed Moumou. For example, two of the sons have fought in Syria, one of whom has died.

Doku has previously reported on (Child Protection Act) interventions against two of the daughters, in one of the cases, one of the daughters was going to take a niece abroad, but she was arrested by police at Kastrup (Copenhagen Airport).

During the spring of 2022, Expressen reported that Camilla Olofsson and a man were charged by the Stockholm court suspected of, among others, aggravated rape of children. The October 11 charge was for Camilla Olafsson's part in human trafficking on two occasions, aiding and abetting aggravated child rape on several occasions, and forced marriage. The man, who according to an arrangement with Camila Olafsson, was allowed to marry one of her daughters, was charged with aggravated rape of a child.

The prosecutor's oral evidence was very extensive and included, among other things, interviews with several people within the jihadist environment who were in the Islamic State and who had contact with Camilla Olofsson and the family when the crimes were reportedly committed.

The Solna district court has now announced its judgment. Camilla Oloffson is sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in prison for human trafficking and aiding and abetting aggravated rape against one of her daughters. The forced marriage is included in the human trafficking charge for which she is convicted, according to the district court.

The man was also convicted, in his case for aggravated rape against a child. The punishment was 8 years and 10 months in prison.

The judgment shows that it was obvious to Camilla Olofsson that she was taking her children to a conflict zone and to the terrorist organization Islamic State. Her purpose in taking her daughters and housing them there, according to the court, was to help establish and to live in an Islamic state set up under a strict Salafist interpretation of Islam and controlled by a violent Islamist formation. Her purpose was that the children would be subjected to the order and the norms that applied within the terrorist organization. For the underage daughters, who were only 9 and 12 years of age respectively when they were taken there for the first time, that meant that they would marry, start a family, and be exploited for sexual purposes and other activity.

By-

Lars Jonson

Magnus Sandelin

University of Michigan: "Shocking"? What's So Shocking?

"Social media users were shocked and outraged over a recent anti-Israel rally put on by pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Michigan this week."

Fox News, to its credit, is giving prime coverage to the latest anti-Israel demonstration, this time at the University of Michigan. The article reports the chants of, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "Intifada, intifada" as being calls to murder Jews in Israel, which is exactly what they are. 

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/michigan-university-rally-overthrow-israel-stuns-internet-call-murder-jews

Fox online articles, when linked, often disappear, so here is a similar article from the New York Post. 

"The Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro put out a snarky comment about the protest, stating, “It’s because @UMich spends only $18 million annually on DEI.”

(I hope that's a joke because if any university is giving 18 million dollars to their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices (which don't give a hoot about anti-Semitism), that is a scandal in itself.)

The only issue I have with the Fox article is the use of the word, "shocking". After so many years of these chants being shouted on campuses across the country, who should be shocked? As I have often written, I taught part-time at UC Irvine from 1998-2016. I still have these chants ringing in my ears after hearing them countless times on that campus and from watching videos of demonstrations at other campuses. Yes, they are sickening, and they are shocking, but it's not like a new thing.

As the largest conservative media outlet, I sincerely hope that Fox continues to report on this issue because I know that CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and MSNBC will not. But know this, Fox: This is nothing new. Pro-Palestinian forces on our campuses have been calling for the deaths of Israeli Jews for at least two decades.

It bears watching how the campus newspaper, The Michigan Daily (actually a weekly), will report this. Thus far, as of today, I see nothing on their site. Hopefully, someone on their staff will take the time to dissect the words of the above chants and figure out what they actually mean.

Erdogan Hung in Effigy in Stockholm

On Wednesday, a group called the Rojava (Western Kurdistan) Committees, which oppose Turkey's actions against Kurds in Syria, hung Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in effigy outside Stockholm City Hall. The incident has caused a further strain on Swedish - Turkish relations since Sweden has granted refugee status to large numbers of Kurds who are in opposition to Turkey's policies vis-a-vis the Kurds, especially in Western Kurdistan (Syria). 

In addition, Sweden is engaged in delicate negotiations with Turkey to obtain the latter's yes vote for Sweden's NATO membership. Turkey wants Sweden to fulfill a number of demands vis-a-vis the Kurds in Sweden, demands like extradition and not allowing anti-Erdogan protests by the Kurds.

The below video from  Swedish news site, Aftonbladet, is translated by Fousesquawk. Hat tip to Vlad Tepes and Gates of Vienna for sub-titling.

Old Joe's Secrets

 News item: More classified documents found in Joe Biden's home in Delaware

"Richard Sauber said DOJ officials "immediately took possession of them."

-ABC News

"How could anyone be that irresponsible?"

-Joe Biden

Belgium Deports Imam to Morocco

We have been following the saga of a Moroccan-born imam, Hassan Iquioussen, who was under a deportation order from France, but who fled to Belgium to avoid arrest. Subsequently nabbed in Belgium, he then fought extradition to Morocco. Morocco, who had initially declined to issue an entry pass for the imam, thus preventing his removal, later changed course and issued the pass. Iquioussen has now reportedly been removed to Morocco by the Belgians.

The below article from yesterday's BFMTV (France) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/l-imam-hassan-iquioussen-a-ete-expulse-au-maroc-par-la-belgique_AD-202301130669.html

Imam Hassan Iquioussen has been expelled to Morocco by Belgium

SR with AFP January 13, 2023 at 20:29

Caption: Imam Hassan Iquioussen leaves after a hearing in the appellate court of Le Mons, 10 November 2022

At the end of last July, the Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, announced his expulsion from French territory. But the imam could not be found at the time the expulsion arrest was ordered and had fled to Belgium.

Imam Hassan Iquioussen was expelled Friday to Morocco by Belgium, where he had been arrested September 30 after his expulsion (order) from France for "remarks inciting hate and discrimination," his French lawyer has announced.

This preacher from the north of France, for whom Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had announced an expulsion order at the end of July, was expelled to Casablanca after the issuance of an entry permit by Moroccan authorities, stated Attorney Lucie Simon.

The expulsion order forbids return, the Interior Ministry tells BFMTV. Hassan Iquioussen is listed in the file of wanted persons and therefore, in the Schengen information system, which permits the reporting and prevents his entry into European (EU) territory. 

A "great victory against separatism"

The announcement was also made by the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration on her Twitter account Friday, hailing the removal of the "Iquioussen hate," and "the good cooperation" with France in this case.

"We cannot permit an extremist to wander around our territory. Everyone who hasn't the right to be here must be removed," she commented in a press release.

For his part, Gerald Darmanin welcomed a "great victory against separatism," BFMTV learned from his entourage. 

Expulsion from France in July

At the end of July, Gerald Darmanin announced the expulsion of Hassan Iquioussen, accusing him of (making) "a proselytizing speech mixed with remarks inciting hate and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the French Republic".

But the imam could not be located at the time the arrest warrant for deportation had been definitively validated by the Counsel of State on August 31. He had fled to French-speaking Belgium where he was arrested in the area of Mons on September 30.

Hassan Iquioussen was then placed in a lockdown center near Liege in mid-November (on charges of) illegal residence (and) targeted with an order to leave Belgian territory after the failure of a European arrest procedure initiated by France.

"About-face"

His French attorney, Lucie Simon, was shocked Friday evening by the "about-face" of Morocco, who had refused France's request last summer (to issue) a consular entry pass allowing the removal of the imam to his country of origin.

"I am surprised by the about-face by the Moroccan authorities, and I believe that the place for Hassan Iquioussen is in France," Attorney Lucie Simon reacted, stressing that the lawyers were not informed of the issuance of the consular document.

"We await the basis of the judgment of the Paris Administrative Tribunal, (and) if the (French) expulsion order had been annulled, France would have to ensure his return, " she added.

S.R. with Agence France Presse

Another Biden Broken Promise?

"The Biden White House had announced last spring (and even before that), that the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) would deliver an important proposed regulation in December 2022. The regulation is supposed to implement the Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism, which former President Donald Trump had signed in 2019."

-Kenneth Marcus

On December 28, 2022, an op-ed appeared in the (LA) Jewish Journal by Kenneth Marcus, former head of the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, and CEO of the Louis D Brandeis Center. Marcus' op-ed was hopeful that President Biden would follow through on his statements condemning anti-Semitism and anticipated the President's promised regulations fighting anti-Semitism to be announced in December 2022. The op-ed may be accessed here.

Now the Biden administration has announced that such regulations will be delayed until December 2023. Marcus has now written this op-ed (dated January 9) in Newsweek. He is understandably disappointed.

I am also disappointed in Biden's announcement but hardly shocked. One could rightfully wonder why anti-discrimination regulations could be postponed for another year, but this is Joe Biden and his administration we are talking about here. Say what you will about Donald Trump, but any charges that he is anti-Semitic are hogwash. He singled out the universities (in my view, the worst source of today's anti-Semitism in the US) and put them on notice that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to allow their Jewish students to be subject to anti-Semitic attacks (under the guise of condemning Israel). Similarly, he supported Israel like few US presidents have. But like so many of Trump's positive policies (like securing our border), Biden is determined to sweep them all away.

But why postpone this another year? Does he want time to measure the opposition from the pro-Palestinian lobby and/or the academic lobby? Is he looking for some "middle ground" that will satisfy everybody? There is none. You are either against anti-Semitism or you are for it (or afraid to confront it).

Meanwhile, across the nation, Jewish students in our universities continue to be harassed by pro-Palestinian activists, and in our cities, Jews who are easily recognizable are physically assaulted on the streets. Maybe things will get better in December this year. It's only 11 months away.

Classified Documents and Such

 

"Good news, mein Fuehrer. We've found more classified documents here in the chancellery garden."

The Muslim Brotherhood in France (6)

This is the latest in our series of original translations of European articles on the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the 6th such article on France. The below France Bleu article concerns a local French public official who has been accused of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. We have no information that might support or refute the allegations against the politician in question. The article is translated as is by Fousesquawk.

https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/politique/je-suis-laic-et-republicain-adem-benchelloug-elu-de-valence-accuse-de-liens-avec-les-freres-musulmans-1859878

"I am secular and a Republican," says the elected official in Valence, Adem Benchelloug, accused of ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is the Journal du Dimanche that is revealing an internal note within the Drome (geographical department in France) Territorial Intelligence. According to this document, Adem Benchelloug, municipal councilor and vice president of the agglomeration of communities, is reportedly close to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Valence elected official says he is bruised and refutes the allegations.

Valence

France Bleu-Drome Ardeche

Sunday, January 8, 2023 at 18:21-Updated Monday,  January 9, 2023 at 08:45

By Nathalie De Keyzer

"I am wounded and bruised". That is the reaction of Adem Benchelloug after the article published January 7 by Journal du Dimanche (Sunday Newspaper). Entitled "In Valence, the shadow of the Muslim Brotherhood", this article describes the contents of a note within the Drome Territorial Intelligence (RT) that was addressed to the Prefect of Drome last August 3. A note in which the RT, according to our colleagues, shared their suspicions about the municipal counselor assigned to the movement of equipment in the quarter of Valence. Adem Benchelloug is also the 13th vice president of the Valence Romans (agglomeration of communities in charge of sports.

"It's a bunch of assertions without proof"

(Contacted) Sunday afternoon, the elected official said he was wounded by these allegations. "I am wounded and bruised when I see such accusations that are founded on nothing." Adem Benchalloug continues: "It's a bunch of assertions without proof and allegations without foundation. Territorial intelligence is there to produce intelligence, that's their role, but let them do it in the correct manner."The elected official states: This note brings nothing concrete and reveals nothing because there is nothing to reveal."

Defamation

The vice president in charge of sports in the Valence Romans community agglomeration chooses a sports metaphor in responding: "I take the blow", but he also notes that for him, these allegations are defamation and that he will take his time to respond point by point. He is presented in the note as, "an elected official with a theologically-formatted profile since 2012 within the associations, Ouverture and the Plume Institute," two associations "essential in the Brotherhood theological training in the Drome (department)", again according to the Territorial Intelligence.

Adem Benchelloug admits having taken a course in the Arabic language in the summer of 2010 at the Plume Association "but I am neither closely nor remotely connected to the Muslim Brotherhood movement. I am no more than an elected, secular Republican, and before being an elected Republican, I was just a young man in the community invested in the associative environment of the secular hearth of Valensolles (district in Valence), therefore, a home for all. I am the pure fruit of the school of the Republic."

Violent messages on social media

And Adem Benchelloug says he is also affected by the particularly aggressive reaction that the article triggered on social media. "When we see the reactions of the fascistsphere calling for actions against me, it affects me, and it makes me fear for my family, for (our) living well together."

What evidence?

Nicolas Daragon, the Republican mayor of Valence, also says he is outraged by these revelations. "I am shocked to read of such false accusations that are not founded on any proof." The mayor, who says he has known his municipal counselor more than 15 years, was not aware of this RT case, nor of the note to the prefect. Thus, he first raises the question of evidence. "There, based on the fact that a municipal counselor took a foreign language course for one month 12 years ago, they say that he is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood? There is a moment when you should bring evidence when you advance such remarks."

Even if the elected official knows it, it is the nature for Territorial Intelligence to work with total discretion, and to collect bundles of information without real material evidence, which is extremely complicated to obtain in these types of cases.

Questions from the mayor of Valence

The mayor and president of the agglomeration of Valence Romans resumes his form of questioning: "In this note, it is said that there is an organization that trains jihadists. This organization is still open! Last summer, after having been awakened, the prefect indicated to me that the Muslim school was run by the Muslim Brotherhood. She made her 10th or 11th return (visit). So today, I question: The prefect received this note on August 3, she should alert me, she should not spread it in the media, and she should take measures to ensure internal security and public tranquility, something that as of today is absolutely not the case. And so I question myself as to whom we are really targeting? Is there not a form of settling of scores today?

Settling of scores?

Nicolas Daragon concludes: "Not only is nothing clear, but there are some strange maneuvers that make me think there is a sort of settling of scores. It's as if certain state representatives whose departures have been announced, at this time, were saying, 'After me, the deluge'. So there are some steps that are unworthy. And this note, the fact that it is circulating (now) when it was addressed  last August 3rd to the prefect of Drome puzzles me."

It must be said that the relations between the mayor of Valence and the prefect of Drome have been strained for six months since the Muslim school affair. Is the mayor implying that Elodie Degiovanni herself might have leaked this note? The mayor's answer is clear. "Well, it's either the sender of the note or whoever received it. But it's one or the other. And given the trustworthiness of relations that we have had for a certain number of months now in Drome, I ask myself. At the least."

We have contacted the prefect of Drome regarding this attack against her by the mayor. Sticking to her position since the start of the Muslim school affairs, she does not wish to comment.

The opposition demands an emergency municipal meeting

One opposition party has already reacted. The ex-LREM (Renaissance Party) municipal counselor, Bruno Casari, and Socialist Florent Mejean, in separate statements, are calling for pretty much the same thing: The withdrawal of the Adem Benchelloug delegations, as well as his resignation and the holding of an emergency municipal meeting. 

• Nathalie De Keyzer

France: Another Stabbing Attack in Paris

Hat tip Francois DeSouche

Gare du Nord, Paris. AFP

It has happened yet again. The scenario is all too familiar. This morning, at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, a man identified as a Libyan male in his 20s, went on a stabbing spree wounding six persons before being shot and critically wounded by police. (Certain news sources have described the suspect as Algerian, but Libyan seems more credible at this point.) Police report that the man had a record for petty crimes under several aliases and was under an expulsion order to Libya. Due to the unstable situation in Libya, the expulsion had not been carried out.

The below link, via Francois DeSouche (France), has several videos. The first one graphically shows how one of the victims was attacked (Viewer warning).

 https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/11/paris-un-homme-blesse-plusieurs-personnes-a-larme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-avant-detre-neutralise/

The below two articles, via Francois Desouche, are translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.bfmtv.com/paris/attaque-a-a-l-arme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-l-assaillant-etait-sous-le-coup-d-une-oqtf_AD-202301110476.html

Knife attack at Gare du Nord (North Train Station). Assailant  was under OQTF expulsion order 

by Cecile Ollivier with Gauthier Hartmann January 11, 2023 at 16:54

Caption: Police at Gare du Nord train station Wednesday, January 11, 2023-Julien de Rosa/Agence France Presse

INFO BFMTV- The perpetrator of the attack is a Libyan, aged around 20, arrived in France three years ago.

The man who attacked and wounded 6 people with a knife at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris Wednesday morning was under an order of obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), issued in the summer of 2022, BFMTV has learned.

Known for acts of petty crime

Thanks to fingerprint analysis, police were able to identify this Libyan man, aged about 20. Having Arrived in France three years ago, he was known to police under multiple aliases for petty crimes, principally property damage.

The expulsion order he was subject to had not been executed. Expulsions to Libya are complicated due to the current instability of the country, but also due to the absence of an exchange channel for the identification of Libyan nationals.

Wednesday (today) around 6:45, the man (who was) "extremely threatening", attacked six people at the exterior entrance to the Gare du Nord, stated the Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, who was at the scene Wednesday morning.

The individual was then neutralized by police in civilian clothes as well as frontier police, posted at the Gare du Nord. The assailant has been hospitalized after being shot three times by police. Gerald Darmanin explained Wednesday morning that he was "between life and death".

The preliminary toll is six people wounded by stabbing, "of which, one is more serious than the others," the Minister of Interior indicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition, several witnesses reportedly heard the man yell, "Allahu akbar" during the attack, which police are still attempting to verify. At this point, police are not calling this a terrorist crime. I suspect that will change if and when the above witnesses' statements are verified.

Below is a partial translation of an article from Europe 1 (also via Francois Desouche).

https://www.europe1.fr/faits-divers/paris-des-blesses-a-larme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-lagresseur-interpelle-4160263

According to some witnesses at the scene, the suspect reportedly shouted, "Allahu akhbar" during the attack. An element that the investigators of the Criminal Brigade are in the process of verifying, in cross-checking the interviews of witnesses and victims. At this stage, police who have been interviewed report having heard some remarks made in the Arabic language, without, however, being able to confirm what was precisely reported by certain witnesses.

A false identity?

According to information received by Europe 1, the suspect, who had no papers, stated in the morning that he was Algerian. He gave his name as Mohamed Amine M., a name not known to police, and was born, according to his statements, April 14, 1991. He would then be 31 years old. However, the attacker reportedly gave a false identity. Checking the files, his fingerprints matched five aliases with different dates of birth.

Belgium: Drug War Claims Life of 11-Year-Old Girl

The city and port of Antwerp, Belgium is probably Europe's biggest gateway for narcotics, and the city has its share of violence and drug gangs. On Monday evening, in the Merksem area of Antwerp someone fired bullets into the garage of a residence owned by the city's most notorious drug gang (family name not reported). An 11-year-old girl, the niece of the leaders of the gang, was killed. The leaders of the gang are fugitives hiding in Dubai. Other news sources describe the family as being originally from Morocco.

The below article from today's French-language La Libre (Belgium) is translated by Fousesquawk. 

https://www.lalibre.be/regions/flandre/2023/01/10/qui-est-la-fillette-de-11-ans-tuee-dans-une-fusillade-a-anvers-elle-venait-de-la-famille-la-plus-riche-de-la-pegre-anversoise-DTMKKFWOYRDKFBGGI6JGSE2NX4/?cx_testId=27&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

The little 11-year-old girl killed in a shooting "came from the richest family in the Antwerp underworld": Here is what we know.

Killed in a shooting on Monday, January 9, Firdaous, a little girl barely 11 years old, reportedly is from the largest Antwerp family implicated in drug trafficking.

Editorial staff

Posted January 10, 2023 at 10:53-Updated January 10, 2023 at 17:50

Caption: Death of a child during a shooting in Antwerp: "(Drug) consumers should look at themselves in the mirror"

According to our colleagues at HLN, little Firdaous comes from a family of drug barons. Her mother, Naziha, is reportedly the older sister of Othman, Younes, and Nordin El B. Naziha's brothers are not unknown to the police and intelligence services. They have already had contact with the justice system several times within the framework of investigations in the world of drugs. Since the monitoring of the Sky ECC chat service, investigators affirm it is clear that Othman and Younes pull the strings of the Antwerp drug scene out of Dubai, our Flemish colleagues indicate.

However, Naziha's family seems to be apart from all that. Neighbors describe a nice, irreproachable family. Aside from her oldest son, Mohamed El J., suspected of being linked to his notorious uncle, Othman, the possible cause of the attack Monday evening. (Antwerp mayor) Bart de Wever had also described the family of "baron" Othman as 'The richest in the Antwerp underworld". 

There will certainly be a reaction

Othman E.B., uncle of the child shot and killed in Merksem Monday evening, confirms Tuesday to the newspaper, Gazet van Antwerpen, that the family will respond to the tragedy without resorting to violence. "We will search for the perpetrators with the police and the justice system," declared the 30-year-old wanted by police for drug trafficking, presumably from Dubai.

The mayor of Antwerp, Bart de Wever (N-VA), announced Monday evening that the family targeted by the attack is known in the drug world and that the incident should be considered in this context. He said he feared reprisals. "There will certainly be a reaction," Othman E.B. told the Gazet van Antwerpen. "But not how the mayor imagines it. History has already shown us innumerable examples of avengers, and it has never ended well for them." The uncle of the victim also denies any relation with the "underworld" or violence.

Othman  E.B. has never been convicted in Belgium for drug trafficking, unlike his younger brother, Younes, also wanted by judicial authorities. He thinks the perpetrators of attacks like that on Monday should be punished more severely. "Some people who commit these attacks are sentenced to punishments of three years, suspended," he laments.