Ismaël Karioui (Jihadi Militant, France)

• Full name: Ismaël Karioui
• Pseudonym: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: France
• Affiliation: Karioui, Amara and Frèrejean Network [KAFN]

Ismaël Karioui (°1998) is jihadi of mixed French and North African descent from the northern French city of Valenciennes.¹ He radicalized through the internet and became a fervent supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] in the mid-2010s. Despite his young age, Karioui wanted to link up with DaIISh forces in Syria.² He reached out to other supporters of the organization through online videogame chatrooms.³ These men went on to form an informal constellation of prospective jihadis; the Karioui, Amara and Frèrejean Network [KAFN], and made concrete plans for going to Syria.⁴ Karioui’s worried mother got French authorities to ban her son from leaving town in November 2014.⁵ Stuck in France, Karioui openly advocated for the DaIISh on social media.⁶

Karioui got in touch with a Syrian-based DaIISh operative who advised him to launch attacks in his home country.⁷ The teenager inspired his KAFN associates into launching an attack in France.⁸ They eventually settled on attacking a French naval station near Perpignan and behead its commanding officer.⁹ Karioui planned to join DaIISh forces in Syria following the operation.¹⁰ French security forces arrested Karioui and his associates during a series of raids across France on Jul. 13, 2015.¹¹ He was sentenced to a nine-year prison term in April 2018.¹²