ELIMINATED
- Full name: Karim Assani
- Pseudonym: Abu Mikaïl al-Faransi
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Syria, fmr France
- Affiliation: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh], Mraoui and Assani Network [MAN]
Karim Assani (°early 1990s) was a shadowy jihadi from the Parisian suburb of Champigny-sur-Marne. In the early 2010s, he became active at a Salafi mosque and formed a tandem with occasional preacher Mustapha Mraoui. The two men gathered a small group of followers which they radicalized and turned into supporters of the jihadi cause in Syria.1 Assani was seen as their spiritual leader.2 He provided his associates with lessons in Islamic theology but also organized physical training sessions in forests and parks surrounding the French capital city.3
In August 2013, Assani, Mraoui and their companions traveled to Syria via Turkey and linked up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].4 Little is known about his activities with the organization. Assani was reportedly killed in an air strike in Kobane at some point prior to the start of the trial against the Mraoui and Assani Network [MAN] in the spring of 2016.5 His death was never confirmed. On Apr. 12, 2016, a French court sentenced him to a ten-year prison term for his role in the activities of a terrorist organization.6
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