Toulouse and Montauban shootings
The Toulouse and Montauban shootings were a series of Islamist terrorist attacks[2][3][4] committed by Mohammed Merah in March 2012 in the cities of Montauban and Toulouse in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. He targeted French Army soldiers as well as children and teachers at a Jewish school.[5][6][7] In total, seven people were killed and five more wounded.
Toulouse and Montauban shootings
11 March 2012 –
22 March 2012
- .45 caliber pistol
- Three Colt M1911 pistols
- AK-47 assault rifle
- Uzi submachine gun
- Sten submachine gun
- Winchester 12 gauge pump-action shotgun
- 9mm Glock pistol
- Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver
- Numerous other firearms
8 (including the perpetrator)
5
Extremist Islamic beliefs, opposition to war in Afghanistan, Antisemitism
Abdelkader Merah and Fettah Malki convicted of taking part in a criminal terrorist conspiracy
Merah, a 23-year-old[8] French criminal of Algerian descent born and raised in Toulouse,[9] began his killing spree on 11 March, shooting an off-duty French Army paratrooper in Toulouse. On 15 March, he killed two off-duty uniformed French soldiers and seriously wounded another in Montauban.[10] On 19 March, he opened fire at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish day school in Toulouse, killing a rabbi and three children, and also wounding four others.[11][12] After the shootings, France raised its terror alert system, Vigipirate, to the highest level in the Midi-Pyrénées region and surrounding departements.[13]
Merah, who filmed his attacks with a body-worn camera, claimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda. He said he carried out his attacks because of France's participation in the War in Afghanistan and its ban on Islamic face veils,[3] and justified his attack on the Jewish school because "The Jews kill our brothers and sisters in Palestine".[14][15][16] He was killed on 22 March by a police tactical unit after a 30-hour siege at his rented apartment there, during which he wounded six officers.[17][18][19] His brother and another man were later convicted of taking part in a "terrorist conspiracy" over the attacks, which were condemned by the French Council of the Muslim Faith,[20] the United Nations[21] and many governments around the world.[22]
Background of shooter[edit]
According to one of his brothers, unrelated with his criminal activities, Merah and his siblings were raised in an "atmosphere of racism and hatred" in their Muslim family, headed by their mother alone after their father left when Merah was young. They lived in a poor neighborhood of Toulouse.[23] French investigators believe that Merah turned to Salafism after being imprisoned as a young man for petty crimes; he was believed to have become increasingly radical after taking two journeys to Afghanistan and Pakistan.[17][24][25]
Merah had tried to enlist in the French Army, but was rejected because of his criminal convictions.[26] Some sources have noted connections of Merah's family (through his mother's second marriage) to a man who was aligned with the terrorist group al-Qaeda.[27] They also reported Merah's history of psychological issues[19] as factors in the shootings.[28]
Merah said he was a mujaheed and claimed ties to al-Qaeda,[29] but French authorities found no evidence of that and denied his claim.[30][31]
President Sarkozy described the attack as isolated.[32] The police investigation found that Merah had made more than 1,800 calls to over 180 contacts in 20 different countries, in addition to having taken several trips to the Middle East and Afghanistan, and they suggested he might have been in touch with others about his planned attacks.[33]
Aftermath[edit]
Fears of backlash[edit]
In the aftermath, many French Muslims feared the stigmatization of the Muslim community[118][119][120][121][122] and an increase in Islamophobia.[123] President Sarkozy also warned against stigmatizing millions of French Muslims because of the actions of a single extremist.[122][124]
Internet law proposal[edit]
President Sarkozy proposed a new law that would imprison those who repeatedly visit websites promoting terror or hatred.[125] According to The Times of India, legal experts are concerned that such a law could curtail freedom of speech.[126] Reporters Without Borders accused Sarkozy of trying to create an internet surveillance system.[125]
Antisemitic incidents[edit]
The French Jewish community documented 90 anti-Semitic incidents in the 10 days after Merah's attack. The Service of Protecting the Jewish community (Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive (SPCJ)) recorded 148 anti-Semitic incidents in March and April, with forty-three of those classified as violent. The authorities also recorded 105 instances of anti-Semitic intimidation and threats during those two months.[127][128] Jewish graves were vandalised in Nice.[129] The SPCJ said the situation was "deeply worrisome" and reflected support for Merah's attack.[127] Interior Minister Manuel Valls held a meeting with Jewish representatives, promising increased protection for Jewish institutions in France.[128]
The French police investigated email and telephone threats received by staff at the school in the days following the attacks.[130] On 26 March, a 12-year-old boy was hit and punched in the back of his head as he left his Ozar Hatorah school in Paris "by youths reciting anti-Semitic slogans".[130][131][132] In one attack, a Jewish man and his friend were attacked by people identifying themselves as Palestinians, who promised to "exterminate" the Jews.[127] In Villeurbanne, three youths wearing Jewish skullcaps were leaving a Jewish school when they were attacked with a hammer and iron bars. Incoming French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described the attack as "intolerable violence".[128][133]
Co-conspirators[edit]
Mohamed Merah's 29-year-old brother, Abdelkader Merah, was detained after the death of his brother and faced preliminary charges of complicity in murder and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Investigators believed that he may have assisted Mohamed with the preparation of the killings. Abdelkader's lawyer denied these allegations, saying that press reports that Abdelkader expressed pride in his brother's acts were false, and that he had not been aware of Mohamed's plans.[105] In Les Izards, where some planned to mount a demonstration in support of Abdelkader, many find the idea of an organised plot by the Merahs to be absurd.[89]
In 2017, Abdelkader Merah was found guilty of "taking part in a criminal terrorist conspiracy". He was sentenced to 20 years in jail.[134] Fettah Malki was found guilty of the same crime and sentenced to 14 years in jail.[135]
Arrest and expulsion of Jihadists[edit]
In dawn raids in Toulouse and other cities, police arrested 19 suspected militants connected to Forsane Alizza.[136] According to the BBC, the arrests appeared to be in response to the shootings.[137] The arrested individuals were suspected of inciting violence and terrorism, according to the daily Le Parisien. CNN[136] and the BBC reported that French authorities did not link any of those arrested to Merah.[138] The French prosecutor has denied any link between the arrests, which were the product of an investigation begun in October 2011, and the shootings.[139] President Sarkozy also said the arrests were not directly linked to Mohammed Merah.[140][141]
In discussing alienation and Les Izards, Nicholas Vinocur writes, "The fear is, there may be more Mohamed Merahs in waiting among Europe's largest Muslim community, of some five million people in France – a worry that may partly explain Friday's roundup of 19 suspected militant Islamists as Sarkozy's government asserts a firm grip on security."[89] Professor Olivier Roy doubts that disenfranchised youth are vulnerable to terrorism, writing that "For every Qaeda sympathizer there are thousands of Muslims who don the French Army uniform and fight under the French flag."[142]
Sarkozy requested that the police increase its surveillance of "radical Islam" amid rising concerns of a jihadist threat in France.[140]
There were suggestions that the government and DCRI were intensifying efforts to deal with suspected militants after being criticised for allowing Merah to slip through the net.[137] The domestic intelligence agency seized several firearms, including five rifles, four automatic weapons and three Kalashnikovs, as well as a bulletproof vest, during the raids. French officials said that two radical Islamists were deported and three more are to be expelled. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said that the two deported were a Malian imam who had preached anti-Semitism and promoted wearing the burka, and Ali Belhadad, an Algerian with involvement in a 1994 Marrakech attack. Two imams from Saudi Arabia and Turkey and a suspected Tunisian militant are also due for expulsion from France. A police source stated that some of the arrested were planning to kidnap a Jewish magistrate.[143]
On 4 April, French police arrested 10 people on suspicion that they were "Islamist militants". On 5 April, four of them were released after prosecutors found insufficient evidence to detain them. On 6 April, there were reports that the French police would release the last six individuals as well.[144]
The Interior minister commented "We do not accept Islamic extremism. This is not a new policy... but after what happened in Toulouse and Montauban we have to be more vigilant than ever." President Sarkozy said the aim was to deny the entry of certain people to France who did not share the country's values and that, "It's not just linked to Toulouse. It's all over the country. It's in connection with a form of radical Islam." He added that "more suspected Muslim extremists will be rounded up," and that after the traumatic events in Montauban and Toulouse, it was necessary to "draw some conclusions."[145]
The government banned six Islamist leaders from entering France for a Muslim conference expected to be held in Paris.[146][137][145]