Bilal al-Marchohi (Jihadi Militant, Belgium)

• Full name: Bilal el-Marchohi
• Pseudonym: Abu Fadil al-Maghrebi, Abu Fadil al-Belgiki
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Iraq, fmr Syria, fmr Belgium
• Affiliation: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh], fmr Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS], fmr Shari’a for Belgium Movement [Sh4B]

Bilal al-Marchohi (º1995) is a jihadi of Moroccan descent from the Borgerhout suburb of Antwerp. Under the influence of radicalized friends and relatives, he adopted Salafism as a teenager.¹ Marchohi participated in protests against Israel in November 2012 and appears to have been peripherally connected to the Shari’a for Belgium Movement [Sh4B].²

In October 2013, Marchohi and his wife traveled to Syria where they joined the Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli ash-Sham].³ He attended a training camp, but soon got into conflict with other group members over pornography.⁴ Marchohi later defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] and served as a chief in its religious police.⁵ From Syria, Marchohi used social media to make occasional threats of violence against Belgium and the Netherlands.⁶ He later served in the DaIISh’s administrative apparatus after having sustained injuries in fighting.⁷ In May 2017, French intelligence services mistakenly believed Marchohi had returned to Europe to carry out attacks against the country.⁸

In the summer of 2017, Marchohi took part in the DaIISh’s defense of Raqqa during the offensive of Kurdish forces. He reportedly used chemical weapons during the fighting.⁹ On Aug. 29, 2017, Marchohi and his wife surrendered to Kurdish troops.¹⁰ Kurdish militias handed him over to the Iraqi authorities in January 2019.¹¹ An Iraqi court sentenced Marchohi to death on Mar. 18, 2019.¹²