عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Trial Opens for Failed ISIS Attack on French Church

French Police officers intervene at the site where they discovered explosives and bomb components in an apartment, in Villejuif, a suburb of Paris, on September 6, 2017. (AFP)
French Police officers intervene at the site where they discovered explosives and bomb components in an apartment, in Villejuif, a suburb of Paris, on September 6, 2017. (AFP)
TT
TT

Trial Opens for Failed ISIS Attack on French Church

French Police officers intervene at the site where they discovered explosives and bomb components in an apartment, in Villejuif, a suburb of Paris, on September 6, 2017. (AFP)
French Police officers intervene at the site where they discovered explosives and bomb components in an apartment, in Villejuif, a suburb of Paris, on September 6, 2017. (AFP)

A 29-year-old Algerian man is going on trial in Paris Monday accused of killing a policewoman and trying to blow up a church near Paris, a failed 2015 attack that investigators say was orchestrated by ISIS extremists in Syria.

Instead of bombing a Sunday Mass in the Paris suburb of Villejuif, Sidi Ahmed Ghlam shot himself in the leg, and was soon arrested.

The incident came amid a series of extremist attacks in 2015-2016 that rocked France. Another Paris court is currently holding a two-month trial into January 2015 attacks that killed 17 people at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.

While all the gunmen in those attacks were killed by police, Ghlam survived his attempted bombing three months later, and begins a monthlong trial starting Monday on charges of murder and attempted terrorist murder.

Ghlam, who faces life in prison if convicted, denies wrongdoing.

Nine other defendants will be tried alongside him. Seven are believed to have provided logistical assistance such as weapons and protective vests.

The other two are extremists accused of guiding his attempted attack, who are believed to be in Syria and possibly dead. The third sponsor, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed by police after allegedly coordinating the worst attacks on France since World War II, coordinated assaults on Nov. 13, 2015, on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France’s national stadium and multiple cafes.

Ghlam had been on the radar of authorities in Algeria and France for his proximity to ISIS. Investigators say he traveled to Turkey in late 2014 and early 2015 where he met Abaaoud and the other operatives.

On April 19, 2015, policewoman Aurelie Chatelain was shot to death in her car, which had been set on fire, near a church in Villejuif.

Soon afterward, Ghlam called for help, claiming to have been the victim of gunfire near his home, in the 13th arrondissement or district of Paris, not far from Villejuif. Doctors notified police.

Police believe Ghlam shot Chatelain and was in fact planning to carry out an attack against the Villejuif church.

According to investigators, Ghlam had to give up attacking the church after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while trying to put his weapon back in his belt.

Ghlam told investigators that he intentionally shot himself in the thigh, having second thoughts about carrying out the planned massacre.

He says the policewoman was accidentally killed by an accomplice named “Hamza.” None of the other suspects has mentioned this supposed accomplice.

Many weapons were found in his car and at home, and his computers showed frequent links to Syria. Ghlam acknowledged to investigators having been in contact and guided by three ISIS operatives: Abaaoud, Abdelnasser Benyoucef and Samir Nouad.

Benyoucef is also the alleged sponsor of Amédy Coulibaly, the gunman in the January 2015 kosher supermarket attack. Benyoucef and Nouad, a member of Algerian militant group GIA in the 1990s, are believed to have died in suicide attacks in Syria, and are being tried in absentia in the Villejuif case.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran to Begin Enriching Uranium with Thousands of Advanced Centrifuges, UN Watchdog Says

Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Iran to Begin Enriching Uranium with Thousands of Advanced Centrifuges, UN Watchdog Says

Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian women walk past a mural painting of Iranian flags in Tehran on November 26, 2024. (AFP)

Iran will begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges at its two main nuclear facilities at Fordo and Natanz, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Friday, further raising tensions over Tehran's program as it enriches at near weapons-grade levels.

The notice from the International Atomic Energy Agency only mentioned Iran enriching uranium with new centrifuges to 5% purity, far lower than the 60% it currently does — likely signaling that it still wants to negotiate with the West and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

However, it remains unclear how Trump will approach Iran once he enters office, particularly as it continues to threaten to attack Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and just after a ceasefire started in its campaign in Lebanon. Trump withdrew America from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and incidents across the wider Mideast.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment over the IAEA's report. Tehran had threatened to rapidly advance its program after the Board of Governors at the IAEA condemned Iran at a meeting in November for failing to cooperate fully with the agency.

In a statement, the IAEA outlined the plans Iran informed it of, which include feeding uranium into some 45 cascades of its advanced IR-2M, IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges.

Cascades are a group of centrifuges that spin uranium gas together to more quickly enrich the uranium. Each of these advanced classes of centrifuges enrich uranium faster than Iran’s baseline IR-1 centrifuges, which have been the workhorse of the country’s atomic program. The IAEA did not elaborate on how many machines would be in each cascade but Iran has put around 160 centrifuges into a single cascade in the past.

It's unclear if Iran has begun feeding the uranium yet into the centrifuges. Tehran so far has been vague about its plans. But starting the enrichment at 5% gives Tehran both leverage at negotiations with the West and another way to dial up the pressure if they don't like what they hear. Weapons-grade levels of enrichment are around 90%.

Since the collapse of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, it has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. US intelligence agencies and others assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program.

The US State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press it was “deeply concerned with Iran’s announcement that it is choosing the path of continued escalation as opposed to cooperation with the IAEA.”

"Iran’s continued production and accumulation of uranium enriched up to 60% has no credible civilian justification," it added.

Iran, as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, has pledged to allow the IAEA to visit its atomic sites to ensure its program is peaceful. Tehran also had agreed to additional oversight from the IAEA as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw sanctions lifted in exchange for drastically limiting its program.

However, for years Iran has curtailed inspectors’ access to sites while also not fully answering questions about other sites where nuclear material has been found in the past after the deal's collapse.

Iranian officials in recent months, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, had signaled a willingness to negotiate with the West. But Iran also has launched two attacks on Israel amid the war.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, said in a post on the social platform X that he met with EU diplomat Enrique Mora, criticizing Europe as being “self-centered" while having "irresponsible behavior.”

“With regard to the nuclear issue of Iran, Europe has failed to be a serious player due to lack of self-confidence and responsibility,” Gharibabadi wrote.

For his part, Mora described having a “frank discussion” with Gharibabadi and another Iranian diplomat. Those talks included “Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights,” he wrote on X.