APPREHENDED
- Full name: Khalid Zerkani
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Belgium
- Affiliation: Khalid Zerkani Network [KZN], fmr Bassam Ayachi Network [BAN]
Khalid Zerkani (°ca 1974) is a Moroccan-born jihadi who embraced militancy in the late 1990s when he traveled to Afghanistan. He reportedly received training at camps operated by al-Qa’ida.1 During his stay in Afghanistan, he developed relationships with several influential jihadis, including Tunisia’s Seifallah Ben Hassine.2
Upon his return from Afghanistan, Zerkani spent time in the Netherlands and Spain before eventually migrating to Belgium in 2002.3 He settled in the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels and soon came into contact with associates of the Bassam Ayachi Network [BAN].4 Although poverty forced Zerkani into petty crime, he also stepped up as a Salafi Islamist preacher who mentored troubled youths.5 Zerkani gradually attracted companions and eventually headed a small informal criminal group.
In the early 2010s, Zerkani teamed up with the notoriously Islamist Aberkane crime family. Under the influence of Fatima Aberkane, religion became increasingly important to the gang’s members. Zerkani convinced his followers that their criminal activities were religiously-sanctioned plunder of non-believers.6 His message resonated with segments of Molenbeek’s troubled immigrant youths.
Zerkani and his associates became increasingly focused on jihad. In early 2012, several members of the gang traveled to Somalia where they joined the Holy Warriors Youth Movement [HSM; Harakat ash-Shabab al-Mujahideen].7 At the same time, Zerkani and his followers began making plans to launch attacks in Belgium.8 Later that year, Zerkani started to encourage members of his network to fight in Iraq and Syria. Over the course of the next two years, dozens of his followers traveled to Syria.9 The vast majority of these fighters eventually ended up in the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].10 Some of Zerkani’s followers attained senior positions within the organization. Abdelhamid Abaaoud became a local commander who gained notoriety when a video emerged in which he was seen dragging the dead bodies of Syrian regime fighters behind a pickup truck.11
The exploits of Zerkani’s followers in Syria and the scale of his network’s recruitment drive caught the attention of Belgium’s authorities. Police arrested Zerkani during a major crackdown on jihadi elements in the country in February 2014.12 In July 2015, a Belgian court sentenced him to twelve years in prison for recruiting jihadis.13 An appeals court later gave him a prison sentence of fifteen years in April 2016.14 Belgian authorities brought further charges against Zerkani later that year.15
Despite the arrest and incarceration of Zerkani, his followers continued their activities as fighters and supporters of the DaIISh. Abdelhamid Abaaoud became a key coordinator of the organization’s campaign of terrorism against Europe.16 Following several failed attacks, he and his associates carried out the November 2015 attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead.17 Other members of the KZN staged the March 2016 suicide bombings in Brussels in which dozens of people were killed.18 Other Zerkani associates such as Dniel Mahi and Osama Atar have also been involved in the DaIISh’s efforts to launch attacks in Europe.19 Although many of network’s associates have been arrested in recent years, its remnants continue to pose a serious risk.
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