Illustration: Men suspected of being members of the Islamic State (IS) group in Hasakeh prison, Syria, on October 26, 2019. - FADEL SENNA / AFP

They were under the control of the Kurds in Syria, said on Wednesday the Center for Terrorism Analysis (CAT). 13 French jihadists detained in Syrian prisons escaped, including the partner of Amédy Coulibaly, one of the perpetrators of the January 2015 attacks in France.

"To date, 13 French jihadist women who were detained in camps under the control of Syrian Kurds (mainly al-Hol and Aïn Issa) are presumed to be on the run, notably Hayat Boumedienne, or 10% of French women detained in Syria", said Jean-Charles Brisard, one of the co-founders of the Paris-based CAT think-tank.

Risk of dispersion of jihadists

"These elements confirm the inability of local authorities to guarantee the detention of foreign jihadists, whether in prisons or in camps, in which mutinies and attempted escape occur regularly," said Mr. Brisard. . "The main risk is that of the dispersion of jihadists, who could either strengthen the ranks of jihadist organizations in Syria or Iraq, or try to join another land of jihad, or for some return clandestinely to Europe to carry out attacks "

Hayat Boumedienne, partner of Amédy Coulibaly, one of the perpetrators of the January 2015 attacks in France, is the target of a new investigation opened in late April in Paris for association of criminal criminal criminals. Already referred to the assizes in the investigation into the attacks against Charlie Hebdo, a policewoman from Montrouge (south of Paris) and the Hyper Cacher, she had previously been given for dead by the wife of the French jihadist Jean-Michel Clain in March 2019.

Advocacy for repatriation

But a woman who testified before French justice had reported that Hayat Boumedienne was alive in October 2019 and that she would have escaped from Al-Hol camp, where they were both detained, said the week public television France 2.

The CAT advocates, like other organizations and experts in terrorism in France, for the repatriation to France of jihadists detained in Kurdish camps and their families. "This is really the best option for our security and the progress of the investigations," said Jean-Charles Brisard, according to whom among these 13 women are important figures. "Some were married to well-known jihadists, others made propaganda and appeared in the journals of the Islamic State organization," he said.

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  • Terrorism
  • Amédy Coulibaly
  • World
  • Syria
  • Jihadism