APPREHENDED
- Full name: Yassine Bousseria
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: France
- Affiliation: Bousseria and Makran Cell [CBM], Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]
Yassine Bousseria (°ca 1980) is an Islamist militant of Algerian descent who grew up in the French city of Metz but also lived in his home country for four years during his adolescence. His family eventually settled in the Neuhof suburb of Strasbourg.1 In 2005, Bousseria began working as an animator at schools in the Alsatian capital city’s Meinau suburb.2 He spent his free time playing video games and smoking marijuana. In 2013, Bousseria and his childhood friend Hicham Makran began to take an interest in the Syrian Civil War. They became supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] and got in touch with Oumar Diaw, a Senegalese jihadi from Schiltigheim.3 In February 2015, Bousseria and Makran traveled to Turkey.4 Although they initially wanted to join the DaIISh in Syria, both men were apparently tasked with carrying out an attack in France during a meeting with Diaw in the Turkish city of Adana.5
Back in the Alsace, Bousseria and his companion developed their plot under the guidance of Diaw and his Syrian-based Diaw companion Lakhdar Sebouai.6 They discussed plans to launch attacks against busy public areas, churches, the police, a Christmas market and the Disneyland amusement park in Paris.7 Bousseria and his associates eventually decided to schedule their operation for Dec. 01, 2016. French police had monitored communications between Bousseria and Sebouai following a tip by Israeli intelligence services.8 After Bousseria had tried to locate an arms cache near Paris, French police rolled up the cell on Nov. 19, 2016.9 Bousseria, Makran and two other associates were apprehended during sweeps in Strasbourg. On Feb. 17, 2021, Bousseria was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a Parisian court.10
References