Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack

Coordinates: 45°38′34″N 5°07′30″E / 45.6428°N 5.1250°E / 45.6428; 5.1250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack
Part of
vehicle ramming
WeaponsKnife, Van
Deaths1
Injured2
PerpetratorsYassin Salhi
MotiveIslamic extremism

A terrorist attack took place on 26 June 2015 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, when a man, Yassin Salhi, decapitated his employer Hervé Cornara and drove his van into gas cylinders at a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon, France, which caused an explosion that injured two other people. Salhi was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism. Three other people were questioned by the police but released without charge. Salhi committed suicide at Fleury-Mérogis Prison in December that year.

The attack occurred on the same day as several other Islamist terrorist attacks, which have subsequently been named the

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The attack occurred during heightened public fears over Islamist attacks in France, a few months after the Île-de-France attacks in January 2015, including the Charlie Hebdo shooting
.

Attack

At around 09:30

Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near the city of Lyon. He was driving a van with his dead 54-year-old employer, Hervé Cornara, inside it.[1] He had tricked Cornara into getting into the van earlier that day, after which Salhi knocked him unconscious and strangled him. He then decapitated Cornara just before reaching the factory. Salhi had made regular visits to the factory, so he was known to employees at the site.[2][3]

He placed Cornara's severed head on a fence railing and planted two Jihadist flag banners alongside it. The head had a cloth thrown over it with the

Allahu Akhbar" as he met and was overpowered by firefighters responding to the scene.[11] The perpetrator had also photographed himself with the slain victim and sent the image to at least one other person via WhatsApp, a French man who later joined ISIL.[1][12]

Perpetrator

"Yassin Salhi" redirects here. Not to be confused with Yassine Salhi (disambiguation).
Yassin Salhi
Born(1980-03-25)25 March 1980
Pontarlier, France
Died22 December 2015(2015-12-22) (aged 35)
Fleury-Mérogis, Île-de-France, France
OccupationDelivery driver
Criminal statusCommitted suicide before trial
SpouseMarried
Children3
Criminal chargeMurder, attempted murder, terrorism. destruction by means of an explosive device

Yassin Salhi (25 March 1980

Saint-Priest
, with his wife and three children.

Six years prior to the attack, Salhi spent a year in Syria with his wife and children, claiming he was there to learn

ISIS. Salhi claimed his reason for the attack was solely based on personal motives, saying a fight with his employer who fired him as well as a dispute with his wife pushed him to commit the attack. French authorities have linked him to ISIS.[2]

Salhi's mother was Moroccan and his father, who died when Salhi was 16, was Algerian. Salhi grew up in

Daesh. After hearing Karim's opinion, Salhi would no longer speak with him other than to say hello and goodbye.[3]

According to his lawyer, Salhi had been earlier reprimanded by Cornara for dropping equipment from a pallet, and had attacked his former boss for personal reasons.[17]

On 30 June, Salhi was charged with murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism, as well as destruction by means of an explosive substance.[18]

On 22 December 2015, Salhi committed suicide in Fleury-Mérogis Prison by hanging himself with his bed sheets on the bars of his cell.[19]

Related arrests

Another man was arrested hours after the attack at his home in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier. He was believed to be driving around the factory in a Ford Fusion car before the attack in a suspected reconnaissance attempt.[20][21] On 26 June, he was released without charge.[21]

Salhi's wife and sister were also arrested later that day.[7][12] They were released without charge two days later.[22] Earlier, his wife gave a radio interview, in which she denied the alleged terror links to the family.[23]

Victim

The decapitated victim, Hervé Cornara, was the 54-year-old manager of a transport company based in Chassieu, about 20 miles from the attack. He was married and had a son.[24] He had employed Salhi as a delivery truck driver starting in March.[25]

Air Products

The company Air Products is a United States chemical company based in

Seifi Ghasemi, is an Iranian-born Shia Muslim. In April 2015 the company won a contract to build, own and operate the world's largest industrial gas complex in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Air Products officials said security had been increased at its operations around the world as a precautionary measure. The company has facilities in more than 50 countries employing more than 21,000 people.[26][27][28]

Domestic reaction

The President of France, François Hollande, left an EU summit in Brussels to return to France. Hollande said, "The attack bears the hallmarks of a terrorist attack."[20] The French Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, was also reported to be traveling to the scene.[6][29]

Other Islamist attacks

The attack in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier was one of

ISIS senior leader Abu Mohammad al-Adnani was released that encouraged militant sympathizers to attack one year after ISIS declared themselves a state, during the month of Ramadan.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "France attack suspect admits killing, police make link to Syria". Reuters. 29 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b "France links beheading, gas plant attack to Islamic State". Yahoo News.
  3. ^ a b "French terror suspect 'mysterious and calm'". skynews.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Beheading And Blast In France Terror Attack". Sky News.
  5. ^ "Attentat en Isère : suivez la situation en direct". Le Monde.fr.
  6. ^ a b "France beheading attack: 'Man decapitated' near Lyon". BBC News. 26 June 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Man decapitated in terror attack in France". The Local.
  8. ^ "CCTV Footage of France Terrorist Attack reveals much about the Assailant". news.biharprabha.com. Ventuno. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  9. ^ "French Authorities Hold Suspect in Beheading and Explosion at Chemical Plant". The New York Times. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  10. ^ LaGrange, Catherine (26 June 2015). "Decapitated body, daubed with Arabic, found at French attack site". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  11. ^ "French Islamist attack: Wife of suspect Yassin Salhi describes shock after outrage". 26 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  12. ^ a b "France terror suspect took selfie with beheaded victim". CBS News. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Yassin Salhi né en mars 1980)". L'inter Naute. 26 June 2015.
  14. ^ Weaver, Matthew; Siddique, Haroon (27 June 2015). "Suspected terror attack at French factory". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "French court hands suspended sentence to man who attacked Jew on train". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 14 September 2012.
  16. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  17. ^ "France links beheading, gas plant attack to Islamic State". Brampton Guardian. Brampton, Ontario. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  18. ^ "Attentat en Isère : Yassin Salhi mis en examen pour assassinat en relation avec une entreprise terroriste". Le Monde.fr (in French). 30 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Yassin Salhi, auteur présumé de l'attentat en Isère, s'est suicidé en prison". lemonde.fr. Le Monde. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. ^ a b Matthew Weaver (27 June 2015). "Suspected terror attack at French factory – live updates". The Guardian.
  21. ^ a b "Grenoble attack: Man found beheaded and Islamist flag raised above factory in France". The Telegraph.
  22. ^ "Attentat en Isère : les intentions floues de Yassin Salhi". France Info (in French).
  23. ^ "Wife of France Terror Attack Perpetrator says they are ordinary Muslim Family". news.biharprabha.com. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  24. ^ "Décapitation en Isère : Hervé Cornara pleuré par les siens". Le Point (in French). Agence France-Presse (AFP). 27 June 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  25. ^ "French terror suspect took selfie with beheaded victim". France 24. Agence France-Presse (AFP). 27 June 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  26. ^ Siddique, Haroon (26 June 2015). "Air Products: the US firm targeted by suspected Islamists in France". the Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  27. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Seifi Ghasemi". airproducts.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  29. ^ Walker, Peter; Malik, Shiv (26 June 2015). "Decapitated body found in attack on factory in France". The Guardian.
  30. ^ "Terror attacks: Dozens dead in vicious day as Isis marks one year of caliphate". International Business Times UK. 26 June 2015.
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