Gang de Roubaix was a terrorist cell tied with the Islamist group
Al-Qaeda. Its members were suspected of various bloody bank attacks, murder and a missed car bombing attack against a G7 Finance ministers meeting in Lille.
Their violent story ended with a
R.A.I.D. assault against their
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
HQ in 1996.
Background
In 1992, the
Bosnian War began in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
involving three ethnic groups:
Bosnian Serbs, supported by
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
,
Bosnian Croats supported by Croatia and
Bosniaks. Bosniaks received some support (financial and military) from Muslim countries.
Among the foreigners arriving in Bosnia were
Christophe Caze
Christophe Caze (22 October 1969–29 March 1996) was a French terrorist and criminal, a former medical student in Lille, France. Caze was one of France's foremost terrorists.
Caze was raised Catholic. A medical student, he travelled to Bosnia in ...
, a French medicine student, who began taking care of casualties in
Zenica
Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The city is k ...
, considered as one of the primary radical areas. Soon afterwards, he converted to
Islam and radicalized slowly. During his stay in Zenica, he made friends with
Fateh Kamel
Fateh Kamel is an Algerian who was arrested in 1999 on charges of supporting a terrorist plot against attacks against French targets in Paris, and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.
He was released early for good behaviour, and returned ...
, Mohammed Omary and
Lionel Dumont Lionel Dumont (born 1971) is a former French soldier currently serving a 25-year sentence in prison. He converted to Islam after serving with peacekeepers in Somalia. He was later accused of participating in the '' Gang de Roubaix'', which unsucce ...
, members of the
Bosnian mujahideen
Bosnian mujahideen ( bs, Bosanski mudžahedini), also called ''El Mudžahid'' (from ar, مجاهد, ''mujāhid''), were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) side during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. They first arriv ...
and participated in the war.
In 1995, the
Bosnian War ended with the
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...
. All the mujahideen, including Caze who joined them, were asked to leave Bosnia. Then Kamel, who was working for the
GIA
''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth M ...
, convinced Caze and Dumont, to commit terrorist attacks in their home countries because of the diplomatic relationships between France and Algeria.
Kamel organized counterfeited administrative documents in his home country of Canada to allow his associates to escape safely after the attacks. Meanwhile, Caze and Dumont began recruiting in
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
, France and went to Bosnia in order to buy heavy weaponry with financial help from
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى كامل مصطفى; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park ...
in London.
Attacks in France
In late 1996, the newly created cell began spreading terror. In order to fund their future attacks, they planned several criminal acts.
On 27 January 1996, some of their members, including Dumont, stole an
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
car but encountered a police patrol, who thought that they were dealing with minor criminals. Immediately, the group fired on the police with assault rifles, injuring one of the police officers who was hit twice. However, the attackers' weapons malfunctioned and the police were able to escape.
On 8 February 1996, they robbed a supermarket but had to flee when the police arrived. The ensuing chase ended with the group's car crashing. While firing on the police, they killed a
Mercedes driver, Hammoud Feddal and stole his car.
On 25 March eight members of the gang assaulted a
Brink's
The Brink's Company is an American private security and protection company headquartered outside Richmond, Virginia. Its core business is Brink's Inc.; its sister brand Brink's Home Security company operates separately and is headquartered in ...
armoured truck near a shopping mall, injuring the driver in the leg. The attackers couldn't access the money and fled.
On 28 March the group parked a
Peugeot 205
The Peugeot 205 is a supermini (B-segment) car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1983 to 1999.
It was declared "car of the decade" by ''CAR Magazine'' in 1990. It also won ''What Car?s Car of the Year for 1984.
The 205 was intro ...
, with 4 gas tanks linked to a detonator in the boot, beside a police precinct in Lille. The whole building was supposed to be destroyed by the blast. However, the bomb malfunctioned, destroying only the car.
The end
For several days, the gang had been under surveillance after the failed assault against the Brink's truck. The police officers succeeded in locating the gang's: the house of one of the members in Roubaix.
The day following the failed attack of 28 March, the police decided to intervene. The
RAID
Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to:
Attack
* Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground
* Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business
* Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
, a French anti-terrorist Special unit, surrounded and stormed the house. The four men who were inside fought back
with assault rifles, screaming that they'd rather die than surrender. The RAID team fired back and launched
smoke grenades. A grenade, launched by the group, injured another policeman and started a fire in the house. After several minutes of heavy gunfighting, the roof of the building, weakened by the fire, collapsed on the 3 remaining gang members. The toll of the assault was 4 dead and two police officers injured, including one seriously.
The others members of the gang, who were located in several other locations, managed to escape. All the police units were scrambled.
Several hours later, Caze, who had managed to escape, was killed by
Belgian police
Law enforcement in Belgium is conducted by an integrated police service structured on the federal and local levels, made up of the Federal Police and the Local Police. Both forces are autonomous and subordinate to different authorities, but link ...
.
Aftermath
An electronic address book was found on Caze's body which permitted the arrest of Fateh Kamel and Mohammed Omary. Kamel was the leader of a terrorist cell in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, suspected of
planning terrorist attacks in Los Angeles.
After escaping all across Europe, Dumont was finally arrested in Germany in 2003. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence in France.
References
{{Reflist
Groups affiliated with al-Qaeda
Islamic terrorism in France
Islamic terrorist incidents in 1996
Bosnian mujahideen
Paramilitary organizations based in France
Terrorist incidents in France in 1996