APPREHENDED
- Full name: Youssef Lamrini
- Pseudonym: Abu Abdelghani
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: France
- Affiliation: Boukhouch and Lamrini Group [BLG]
Youssef Lamrini (°1977) is a citizen of France and jihadi operative from the Cronenbourg suburb of Strasbourg. He was a fervent Salafi Islamist radical who homeschool his children and indoctrinated them to such a degree that they reportedly cried of joy upon hearing of the deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in 2015.1 It is unclear how and when Lamrini became involved in jihadi activity. By the mid-2010s, he had become an associate of Lakhdar Sebouai, a senior Alsace-based operational coordinator and recruiter for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].2 He too pledged allegiance to the organization and helped facilitate the travel of two women to Syria so they could link up with their husbands as they were fighting for the DaIISh.3
Lamrini was furthermore a close associate of Farid Boukhouch who headed an informal group of Islamists who wanted to join the DaIISh in Syria and began preparing themselves through training sessions at public parks in Strasbourg. He helped organize exercises and even briefly took over Boukhouch’s training group following his arrest in October 2014.4 Lamrini reportedly provided its members with airsoft games and survival practice.5 French security services eventually caught up with him as well. Lamrini was brought to trial and was sentenced to six years in prison by a court on Apr. 21, 2017.6 He was handed a seven-year prison term on appeal in May 2018.7
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