Khaled Kelkal
Khaled Kelkal (born April 28, 1971 in Mostaganem in Algeria , † September 29, 1995 ) was an Algerian terrorist with ties to the Groupe Islamique Armé (GIA).
Khaled Kelkal came to France with his mother at the age of two, where his father had been a worker since 1969. The family lived in Vaulx-en-Velin , a suburb of Lyon . Kelkal had four sisters and three brothers. He had good grades in school and attended the Lycée , roughly the equivalent of the upper secondary school in Germany.
For stealing a car, Kelkal was only sentenced to four months probation and, after further offenses, to four years in prison. In prison he met a Muslim inmate who brought him closer to Islam . After his release he frequented the Bilal Mosque in Vaulx-en-Velin. In 1993 Kelkal visited relatives in Mostaganem, where he was likely recruited by the GIA.
On July 11, 1995, Kelkal was involved in the murder of Imam Abdelbaki Sahraoui in a Paris mosque . Sahraoui was considered too moderate by the GIA.
On July 25, 1995, an explosive device exploded in the Saint-Michel S-Bahn station. Eight people died and around 200 were injured.
In August 1995, among other things, a bomb in the TGV high-speed train between Paris and Lyon and another explosive device in front of a Jewish school in the Lyon suburb of Villeurbanne were defused.
The fingerprints of Khaled Kelkal were found on a tape on the bomb in the TGV. On September 29, 1995, he was arrested by officers from the National Gendarmerie in a wooded area near Maison-Blanche, near Lyon . Kelkal offered armed resistance and was shot.
On October 6, 1995, another bomb exploded in the Paris Métro station Maison-Blanche, injuring 18 people. The attack occurred at the same time as Kelkal's funeral.
On October 17, another 30 people were injured in an explosion at the Musée d'Orsay train station in Paris. 14 days later, however, a small group of militant Islamists was arrested in Lille in northern France , which, according to the police, was caught preparing for a bomb attack on a weekly market.
Web links
- Islam in France - BBC Documentary , YouTube video specifically related to the attack
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kelkal, Khaled |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Algerian-French terrorist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 28, 1971 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mostaganem , Algeria |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 29, 1995 |