Erwan Guillard (Jihadi Militant, France)

• Full name: Erwan Guillard
• Pseudonym: Abu Qatada
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: France, fmr Syria
• Affiliation: fmr Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh], fmr Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS]

Erwan Guillard (°ca 1988) is a Breton Islamist militant from the town of Redon. In his youth, he hung out with Muslim friends of immigrant descent and worked at a halal slaughterhouse after dropping out of school.¹ In 2009, Guillard joined the army and received training as a parachutist.² He quit the army after six months.³ Guillard converted to Islam on Dec. 25, 2009.⁴ In the following years, he became more fervent in his religious beliefs. In 2012, Guillard made an attempt to go to Syria by car but returned before reaching the county.⁵

In August 2013, Guillard went to Syria to join the Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli al-Sham]. He later linked up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].⁶ Guillard participated in several operations for the jihadi organization before he got injured.⁷ In April 2014, Guillard appeared in a video distributed by DaIISh supporters in which he called upon French Muslims to come fight in Syria.⁸ Guillard returned to France in June 2014 and surrendered to the police in his hometown.⁹ On Mar. 22, 2018, a Parisian court sentenced him to twelve years in prison for his participation in a terrorist organization.¹⁰ His prison term was reduced by a year by an appeals court in November 2019.¹¹​