French counter-terrorism officers were yesterday questioning a suspected gunman who was overpowered by passengers on a packed train, as it emerged he had been flagged by intelligence services in at least four European countries.
The alleged attacker, named as 25-year-old Moroccan national Ayob El Khazzani, opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle on Friday evening, but was wrestled to the floor by three US passengers, aided by a British man.
According to an initial probe, Khazzani has denied any intention of waging a terror attack, saying he had merely stumbled upon a weapons stash and decided to use it to rob passengers.
However, he was flagged as an extremist by intelligence services in several countries, and French investigators are focussing on a terror attack.
Under French law, suspects in probes related to alleged terrorism can be questioned for up to 96 hours, which means Khazzani could remain in custody until tomorrow evening.
Armed with the weapons, the attacker exited a toilet cubicle on the high-speed train just after it crossed from Belgium into northern France.
A French passenger who happened to be there tried to disarm Khazzani — described as “small, slim, not very strong” — but he got away and fired at least one shot, wounding a Franco-American traveler in his 50s.
However, the attack was quickly stopped when two off-duty US servicemen and their friend charged the gunman and restrained him.
Khazzani was arrested when the train with 554 passengers aboard stopped at Arras station in northern France.
French President Francois Hollande is to thank the group for their courage at the Elysee Palace today.
The shooting underlines the difficulties faced by intelligence services in tracking an unprecedented number of suspected Islamic extremists.
A Spanish counter-terrorism source said Khazzani had lived in Spain for seven years, until last year. During his time in Spain, he came to the attention of authorities for making hardline speeches defending jihad, and was once detained for drug trafficking, according to the source.
Spanish intelligence services say he went to France, from where he traveled to Syria, but the suspect has reportedly denied going to the conflict-ridden country where the Islamic State group controls swathes of territory.
A source close to the French probe said he “lived in Belgium, got on the train in Belgium with weapons likely acquired in Belgium and he had identity papers issued in Spain.”
French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve said Spanish intelligence services had tipped off France over his ties to “radical Islamist movements,” but it is unclear whether he lived in France at any time.
German security services flagged Khazzani when he boarded a flight from Berlin to Istanbul in May, and in Belgium, Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens confirmed Khazzani was “known” to the country’s intelligence services.
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