FRENCH warplanes have carried out fresh bombing raids against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa in northern Syria, destroying a command centre and a training facility, the defence ministry says.
“For the second time in 24 hours the French military conducted an air raid against Daesh (ISIS) in Raqa in Syria,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
This follows a vow by President Francois Hollande to hit back at IS “without mercy” after Friday’s attacks in Paris, the bloodiest on its territory.
Ten Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighters carried out the raid at 11.30am AEST, dropping 16 bombs, the defence ministry said.
“Both targets were hit and destroyed simultaneously,” it said. “Conducted in co-ordination with US forces, the raid was aimed at sites identified during reconnaissance missions previously carried out by France.” On Sunday, 10 warplanes dropped 20 bombs on jihadist targets.
French intelligence under scrutiny
France’s security services are once again facing a harsh spotlight after failing to prevent the brutal attacks in Paris carried out by the Islamic State group.
There is particular concern over the failure to intercept 28-year-old Frenchman Samy Amimour, one of the suicide bombers in the massacre at the Bataclan concert hall.
A case was opened against him in France in 2012 after an abortive attempt to go to Yemen, but he was still able to travel to Syria a year later, triggering an international warrant for his arrest.
That did not stop him sneaking back into France and taking part in Friday’s bloody attacks in the capital.
We have a problem with controlling (Europe’s) Schengen borders -- a big one,” said Alain Chouet, a former security chief at France’s DGSE external intelligence service.
“(Amimour’s) arrival should have triggered a red flag. But these guys understand very well the techniques for entering and exiting the Schengen zone. They’ve practised it a lot.” The intelligence services are also taking flak over another of the gunman who blew himself up at the Bataclan, Omar Ismail Mostefai.
He had been on the radar since 2010 and was subject to an “S-file” as a known extremist.
Turkey says it alerted France that he was a potential threat on two occasions -- in December and January -- after he travelled to the country in 2013, likely on his way to Syria.
But Turkey “never got a response from France”, a senior official in Ankara said.
Belgium represents another major problem for European security, with several of the attackers known to local police but little done to track their movements.
“You understand that if the Belgians don’t warn us, we can’t do anything,” a senior French police source said.
The baby-faced jihadi
Chilling new images have emerged of suicide bomber Bilal Hadfi, who blew himself up outside the Stade de France during the deadly Paris attacks.
A source close to the investigation identified Hadfi as one of the seven suicide bombers who carried out the horrific attacks in Paris. Hadfi is believed to have detonated his suicide vest at the Stade de France, where soccer fans had gathered to watch the France vs. Germany match.
Hadfi, a 20-year-old French national, was known to have returned to Belgium from the Middle East before disappearing from the radar of security forces, The Washington Post reported.
According to Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Hadfi was part of a sleeper cell based in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels. Hadfi, who was from the nearby Brussels suburb of Neder-over-Heembeek, was an avid soccer fan until the spring of 2014, when he quickly became radicalized.
A Facebook page registered under “berkanoh versailles” and with the username of Billy Du Hood (Billy Boyz) appears to be linked to Bilal Hadfi. “Versailles” is a low-income neighbourhood of social estates in Neder-over-Heembeek.
Ni Ght Ranger, a Facebook friend of Billy Du Hood who commented “oui DAIICH” on one of his photographs, confirmed to Storyful that the account belonged to Bilal Hadfi and that he was his cousin. Daesh is another name that refers to the Islamic State.
Ranger said that he had not talked to Hadfi for two years “because he is in DAAICH.” Ranger, who now lives in Morocco, did not know that Hadfi had been linked to the attacks. Ranger said the last time he saw Hadfi was in Saidia, a beach in Berkane, Morocco, in August 2014.
According to Ranger, the photograph of Hadfi in a swimsuit drinking a cocktail, which was posted on August 2, 2014, was taken in Turkey, not Berkane. He said that Hadfi had travelled to Turkey before meeting him in Morocco.
Hadfi listed his education history as Harvard University, but that appears to be false. The Billy Du Hood Facebook account was removed on November 16 as Storyful was working to verify the account.
No comments:
Post a Comment