Technical Issue Prevented the Explosion of Abdel Salam's Suicide Belt in Paris Attacks

Abdel Salam  via Asharq Al-Awsat AR.
Abdel Salam via Asharq Al-Awsat AR.
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Technical Issue Prevented the Explosion of Abdel Salam's Suicide Belt in Paris Attacks

Abdel Salam  via Asharq Al-Awsat AR.
Abdel Salam via Asharq Al-Awsat AR.

Few days before Salah Abdel Salam stands trial before the Belgian judiciary in Brussels on the 5th of February, a technical report on the bloody attacks that hit Paris in November 2015 revealed that the explosive belt that he was wearing had a technical fault and did not explode.

Abdel Salam is the only attacker who survived.

Abdel Salam was arrested after a shootout in the Brussels district of Molenbeek in March 2016. Few days following his arrest, attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels took place killing at least 32 and injuring around 300 people.

An explanation for what happened was that Abdel Salam, the only survivor of the group who carried out the terrorist attacks, the most violent in the history of France, retreated from detonating his explosive belt at the last minute, unlike the other suicide bombers who were killed in the attacks, including his older brother Ibrahim.

Investigators noticed shortly after the attack that the suicide belt lacked the battery and the compressor button. The report confirmed that a wire inside the belt as well as a piece of the bomber were both damaged and thus disabled the belt.

This was also confirmed by witnesses who testified that Abdel Salam had revealed to friends and to the person who hosted him in Brussels that the belt was not working.

Abdeslam is a Belgium-born French national of Moroccan descent.



North Korea's Kim Vows to Win Anti-US Battle Marking Korean War Anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Vows to Win Anti-US Battle Marking Korean War Anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country would achieve victory in "anti-imperalist, anti-US" battles, as the country marked the anniversary of the Korean War armistice, state media reported on Sunday.

Kim "affirmed that our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honorable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown," KCNA state news agency said, referring to his visit to a war museum on a previous day.

North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China on July 27, 1953, ending the fighting in the three-year war. US generals signed the agreement representing the United Nations forces that backed South Korea.

North Korea calls July 27 "Victory Day" even though the armistice drew a border dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides had made major advances back and forth during the war, Reuters said.

South Korea does not mark the day with any major events.

North Korea is now fighting alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine. Thousands of North Korean troops were deployed to Russia's Kursk region, while Pyongyang has also supplied Russia with munitions. It may deploy more troops in July or August, South Korea has said.

Kim also visited memorials honoring the veterans of the 1950-53 war including the Tower of Friendship remembering the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers who fought with the North Koreans, and met soldiers in an artillery regiment to celebrate the day, state media KCNA said.