Europe's first woman suicide bomber was a party animal with a string of boyfriends who had shown no interest in religion, it emerged today.
Hasna Ait Boulahcen, 26, blew herself to pieces during the siege of Saint Denis after anti-terror police closed in on the safehouse where she was hiding with her cousin, the mastermind of the Paris attacks.
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Ait Boulahcen, who blew herself up during the siege of Saint-Denis, is pictured taking a selfie with two others. Today her brother revealed how his sister had no interest in religion and never read the Koran. [Photo/Agencies]
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Just a day after her death, family and acquaintances gave extraordinary accounts of a young woman with a 'bad reputation' who was known for her love of alcohol and cigarettes rather than devotion to Islam.
Her brother Youssouf Ait Boulahcen said that she had had no interest in religion, never read the Koran and had only started wearing a Muslim veil a month ago.
A photograph has also emerged of Ait Boulahcen posing for a selfie in the bath. Her face is covered in heavy make-up and she wears nothing but jewellery.
Ait Boulahcen blew herself up yesterday after anti-terror police tracked her cousin Abdelhamid Abaaoud to a rundown apartment in Saint Denis.
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Two fingers: This was the first picture to emerge of Ait Boulahcen. Family and acquaintances have now given extraordinary accounts of a young woman with a 'bad reputation' known for her love of alcohol and cigarettes. [Photo/Agencies] |
Witnesses described her screaming 'help me, help me' and 'I'm not his girlfriend' seconds before detonating the device.
Her head and spine were found in the street after being blasted through the window. French prosecutors confirmed today that Abaaoud, who was from Belgian, also died in the resultant gun battle.
He had been shot in the head and blown to pieces by grenades. Forensic experts had to identify him through saliva samples and pieces of skin.
Abaaoud was a committed jihadist who had been in Syria and was well-known to the European authorities.
However, his cousin appears to have only become radicalised in the last month after abandoning her former lifestyle to join ISIS.
In a statement, her brother Youssouf, said that he had never even see her open the Koran.
'She was living in her own world. She was not interested in studying her religion', he said. 'She was permanently on her phone, looking at Facebook or WhatsApp.
'I told her to stop all of this but she would not listen, she ignored my numerous attempts to give her advice telling me I was not her dad, or her husband, and so I should leave her alone.'
Youssouf described his relationship with his sister as complicated. 'She spent her time criticising everything,' he said. 'She refused to accept any advice, she didn't want to sort herself out.
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Forensic investigators were today gathering evidence from the scene where Ait Boulahcen blew herself up. [Photo/Agencies] |
'On the rare occasions that I spoke to her it was to tell her to behave better, to have a better attitude, to be more easy-going about her strict dress code.
'On Sunday at 7pm she called me because I had called her - and she sounded like she had given up on life.
Youssouf rushed over in his car to check on her but waited 15 minutes and got no answer.
'She called me and I put the phone down on her after telling her not to call me any more after the inconvenience she had caused me, getting me to come over for nothing.
'Finally on Wednesday morning I turned on the TV and I learned that she had killed herself, sacrificing the life that the Lord had given.
'She had been the victim of violence since she was very young - mistreated and rejected - she never received the love she needed.
'From the age of five she was taken into care, so she grew up with a foster family.
'She was happy and she flourished at that point in her adolescence. Then as she grew up she went off the rails. She became reckless, running away and choosing bad company.
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Forensic experts continued to comb the scene of the flat raid today as it was confirmed Ait Boulahcen and her cousin Abdelhamid Abaaoud were both killed during a six-hour gun and grenade battle with police. [Photo/Agencies] |
'I was never very close to her because we lived apart but during the opportunities I had to talk to her she was full of enthusiasm, although her instability always dragged her down, she was not grounded in her. She went from one life project to another, without question.'
Ait Boulahcen's family arrived in France in 1973 and settled in Paris, where she was born in 1989 in Clichy-la-Garenne, a suburb close to Wednesday's gun siege.
Her parents had separated when she was young and she had been brought up by foster families. Her mother, whose first name is not known, lives in a tower block in Aulnay Sous Bois, a suburb 20 minutes outside of Paris.
It is understood that although Ait Boulahcen visited often, she did not live there permanently.
Friends said she remained 'close' to her father and would regularly visit his home in Creutzwald, Moselle. She lived with him for two months.
Local resident Amin Abou, 26, described her as 'a party animal who loved clubbing'.
'I would see her in this club in Germany which is only ten minutes away but where we go out because its much cheaper for alcohol.
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Killed: Anti-terror police shot dead Paris massacre mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud in the Saint-Denis siege. [Photo/Agencies] |
'She came here two or three years ago for two months. She didn’t work or go to university. I don’t think she even finished school. She loved partying and going to clubs. She drank alcohol and smoked and went around with lots of different guys. She had a bad reputation. She had lots of boyfriends, but nothing serious.
'She had no real friends, just people to hang out with. I think she had a lot of personal issues, with her family. She didn’t live with her mum she grew up in children’s homes. She has a brother who is mentally disabled and used to live in a home in Marseilles.
'She grew up in San Dennis a very bad area. And when you don’t have family-it’s easier to get into bad things.'
Another friend Mattius Jacques, 24, said: ‘She was normal she wore Western clothes, she never wore hijab. She didn’t go to mosque or pray. She never spoke about news or Palestine or anything.
'She wasn’t religious at all. She was like you and me, she went out, she lived a free life, always out partying.
'Her dad didn’t mind, he's cool. He plays guitar. Her father worked in car factory but is now retired. He goes to mosque often but he’s not strict. He goes on holiday to Morocco often because he lives alone.'
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Raid: Eight people were arrested in yesterday's raid, including five inside the flat and three more nearby. [Photo/Agencies] |
Friends also described her as a fun-loving party girl who liked to drink alcohol and was nicknamed 'the cowgirl' due to her love of wearing big cowboy hats.
Neighbours at the building where Ait Boulahcen's family live, in a run-down suburb of Paris, said that she had been there three weeks ago.
Elite French firearms teams fought a ferocious seven-hour battle with terror suspects in a cramped apartment block. They stormed the flat in Saint-Denis following intelligence that it was being used as a hideout by the masterminds behind the Paris massacres and that the fanatics inside were plotting another atrocity. Chris Greenwood, Emily Kent Smith and Josh White detail how the bloody drama unfolded:
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[Photo/Agencies] |
04.00: Police stream into Saint-Denis where they believe terror mastermind Abdel Hamid Abaaoud is holed up. They were led there by monitoring Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a French-born woman cousin of Abaaoud. They also believe that on-the-run terrorist Salah Abdeslam and a ninth attacker are among five fanatics present.
04.15: Hundreds of police marksmen, supported by military units, surround an apartment block at 8, Rue du Corbillon.
04.25: Officers from counter-terrorist unit RAID storm the building. Bullets ricochet off surrounding properties as they are met with a hail of gunfire. An explosion rocks the neighbourhood. Several officers are wounded.
Nabil Guerram, 36, who lives nearby, says: 'I was woken with a start at 4.20am by the sound of extremely heavy gunfire. My children were crying. There was non-stop fire for 20 to 25 minutes, then calm, then it started up again for a very long time.'
05.00: Police dog Diesel is killed after she is sent in to check for suspects. A witness says she was 'blown to pieces' in a hail of bullets.
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[Photo/Agencies] |
A woman who lives on the floor below hides in her bathroom but there are so many explosions she fears the ceiling is going to collapse. She said she heard gunfire, screaming, and people shouting 'shoot, shoot'. She said she ran away clutching her baby.
05.30: A helicopter arrives overhead and 25 minutes later a motorcade carrying dozens of French soldiers, followed by ambulances and fire engines are seen racing towards the flat. Surrounding roads are sealed off.
Neighbour Caroline Chomienne says she was woken by shooting, adding: 'The firing got louder and it was still going on after an hour. There was a firefight. There was shooting everywhere, but also bomb explosions.'
05.45: Residents run for their lives. Omar Dati, a 17-year-old student, said: 'It was like a warzone. We didn't know where to run.'
06.27: Sporadic gunfire continues to be heard, and terrified residents are warned to stay indoors. Schools remain closed and public transport is shut down.
07.00: Jawad Ben Dow, the apartment's landlord, tells how he let 'two men from Belgium' use it for a few days as a favour, saying: 'A friend asked me to put up two of his friends for a few days. I said there was no mattress.
'They told me, 'It's not a problem'.' They just wanted water and to pray. I was asked to do a favour, I did a favour. I didn't know they were terrorists.'
07.30: Siege enters its third hour and seven blasts rock Saint-Denis. Visibly nervous police officers reveal several colleagues have been injured in the close-quarters fighting.
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[Photo/Agencies] |
07.45: Up to 20 people, including children, are evacuated from the apartment block.
07.50: One man said he thought he would die when the shooting started and hid under his bed with his young son. 'I was afraid,' he said. 'My son heard and he was crying a lot. I tried to calm him down but he was crying. The police arrived and they said, 'Get out quick! This building is going to blow up'.'
08.00: Police block roads leading to Saint-Denis, shining green lasers at anyone to stop them coming too close.
08.30: Police confirm that a man has also been killed, believed to have been shot by one of their snipers. It is not known if Abaaoud is dead or alive. Two further police officers are injured. Explosives used by police cause an entire floor to collapse within the building.
09.00: A woman – believed to be Ait Boulahcen – detonates a suicide belt as she pretends to give herself up. Witness Christian, 20, said the street was showered in body parts after a deafening explosion at a window.
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[Photo/Agencies] |
He said: 'I heard a woman shouting 'Help, help, help me!' The police asked her to identify herself and to show herself. She showed her hands but she didn't reveal her face. They shouted at her, 'Keep your hands in the air!' They told her, 'We're going to shoot'. The shooting resumed. Suddenly there was an enormous explosion. It was probably the woman who blew herself up.'
09.00: Prosecutors announce three arrests. A man and a woman were also arrested nearby.
09.30: Police believe one last suspect remains in the apartment.
10.34: A man, naked from the waist down, and wearing a bloodied T-shirt is dragged from the building. No gunfire had been heard for two hours.
11.10: Manhunt for at least one suspect continues, as French police confirm another arrest, taking total to eight.
11.25: Further explosions as police use flash bang grenades to distract anyone left inside the apartment.
11.43: After a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, the government declares the seven-hour operation at an end.
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13.00: Body parts are found amid the rubble outside the building which will be subjected to DNA analysis to see if they are Abaaoud.Photographs emerge showing the force of the explosions blew window frames clean out of the walls. Sources later claim Abaaoud was killed in the battle'.
14.25: A resident, who hid with her young son, said: 'The helicopter lit up my living room. I had to talk to someone... I came out when they said it was over.'
They said she had a bubbly personality, adding that she was 'outgoing, a bit clueless'. They were shocked to see her face appear on the news.
One neighbour, Hassane, described her as a 'Tom boy' and said she always dressed in jeans, trainers and a black cap until around eight months ago when she started wearing a niqab.
He said: 'She wasn't scared of anyone. She was like a little soldier. She was very lively, very dynamic.'
He said: 'She didn't have a niqab [headscarf] before. She was always in jeans and trainers. She was a very well-spoken girl. She was very respectful.'
The retired 62-year-old said that Ait Boulahcen was always very helpful and had once carried his heavy shopping for him.
He said Ait Boulahcen's mother had been comforted by the caretaker in the building and had spent last night crying.
He added: 'I can't believe she's part of this sect. When I heard it I felt sick. She was like all young girls - it was who she was hanging out with'.
'We have been tainted by these people that know nothing about Islam.' Another said: 'She did not look like a suicide bomber and she drank alcohol.'
Boulahcen studied at Paul Verlaine University in Metz. She was registered as a director of building company, Beko Construction, in Epinay sur Seine, three miles from yesterday's raid. The company was liquidated last year.
Her death in the Saint Denis siege was instant. Jean-Michel Fauvergue, 56, the French anti terror commander who led the raid described how he saw her head fly through the window. Her spine landed on a police car.
'That's when we saw a human body, a woman's head, fly through the window and land on the pavement, on the other side of the street,' Fauvergue said.
'A suicide bomber had just exploded. The blast was so devastating that a supporting wall moved.'
Police made a number of arrests during the raid. A police dog was killed.
PARIS MASSACRE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT THE DEADLY ATTACKS
At least 129 people are dead, and another 352 injured, after three teams of jihadis struck the Stade de France football stadium, a handful of bars and cafes, and then finally the Bataclan concert hall
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Timeline of events: Eight terrorists carried out the devastating attacks on Friday night, leaving 129 people dead and another 352 injured. [Photo/Agencies] |
FIRST TWO ATTACKS: STADE DE FRANCE
The attacks began at 9.20pm at the Stade de France where the French football team was hosting Germany in an international friendly.
The game was being watched by 80,000 spectators, among them was President Francois Hollande who had to be evacuated from the stadium.
Ahmed Almohammad, 25, from Syria approached the stadium with a match ticket. He was turned away from Gate D after being frisked by a security guard.
He backed away from the gate and detonated his vest, killing one other person. A passport was found near his body.
A second suicide bomber, Bilal Hadfi, 20, blew himself up near Gate H at 9.30pm. No one else was reported killed. Hadfi is said to have fought with ISIS in Syria.
THIRD ATTACK: LE PETIT CAMBODGE AND LE CARILLON BAR
At 9.25pm a separate team of gunmen arrived in a Black Seat and attacked diners at popular Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge and Le Carillon bar in the trendy Canal Saint-Martin area of eastern Paris, killing 15. The gunmen were using Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles.
FOURTH ATTACK: LA CASA NOSTRA PIZZERIA AND LA BELLE EQUIPE BAR
The same unit then drove about 500 yards to La Casa Nostra pizzeria and opened fire on diners on the terrace of the restaurant, killing at least five people.
From there, the militants drove around a mile south-east – apparently past the area of the Bataclan concert venue – to launch another attack, this time on La Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne. At least 19 people died after the terrace was sprayed with bullets at 9.36pm The attackers then drove off.
FIFTH ATTACK: CAFÉ 'COMPTOIR VOLTAIRE'
At 9.40pm, Ibrahim Abdeslam, also known as Brahim, 31, set off a suicide vest inside cafe 'Comptoir Voltaire' on the Boulevard Voltaire and close to the Bataclan theatre. He hired a black Seat car used in the attack, which was found later abandoned with three assault rifles, along with five full magazines. The killers had emptied 11 magazines, firing an estimated 330 rounds.
SIXTH ATTACK: BATACLAN MUSIC HALL
At 9.40pm, the third group (believed to be three men and a woman) armed with AK-47s stormed the Bataclan music hall and began shooting members of the crowd. Survivors claim three blew themselves up and a fourth person was shot dead by police before they could detonate their bomb.
SEVENTH ATTACK: NEAR STADE DE FRANCE
At around 10.15pm a third blast took place near the Stade de France, this time by a McDonald's restaurant on the fringes of the stadium. The boom caused terror among spectators who had already been attempting to flee the stadium following the first two explosions. The attacker who detonated his suicide vest was identified as a 20-year-old French man living in Belgium.
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Thousands lined the streets of Paris on Monday for a minute's silence to remember those killed in a wave of attacks on the city on Friday. [Photo/Agencies] |
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