APPREHENDED
- Full name: Mehdi Kamallah
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: France, fmr Syria
- Affiliation: fmr Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS], fmr Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]
Mehdi Kamallah (°ca 1985) is a jihadi from the northern French city of Roubaix. He served five years in the French army as a young man and went on deployments in Chad, the Ivory Coast and Senegal.1 Kamallah became more fervent in his religious beliefs in 2010 and deserted the army after running into trouble for growing a beard and praying obnoxiously.2 Around that time, he also came into contact with members of the Salafi community in Lille.3
In April 2012, police arrested Kamallah after discovering that he was distributing jihadi propaganda videos on the internet.4 During interrogations, Kamallah expressed desire to wage jihad and admitted having attempted to go to Afghanistan. He was nevertheless released shortly afterwards.
In May 2013, Kamallah went to Syria where he linked up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] before joining an outfit that was affiliated with the Support Front for the People in the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli al-Sham].5 Kamallah was given command over a small unit of jihadis tasked with providing road security in Syria’s Aleppo governorate.6 In March 2014, he returned to France after getting injured.7 French security forces arrested him near Toulouse in April 2015.8 On Jan. 16, 2017, a court in Paris sentenced him to eight years in prison.9 Two of his associates were also handed prison terms.
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