AT LARGE
- Full name: Youssoup Nassoulkhanov
- Pseudonym: “Yusuf”
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Syria, pos Iraq, fmr France
- Affiliation: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]
Youssoup Nassoulkhanov is a Chechen jihadi from the French Alsace region where he lived in the town of Schiltigheim after his family migrated to Europe during his adolescence.1 Nassoulkhanov was a devout Muslim who was attached to Chechen culture but showed no signs of hostility towards France during his youth.2 His street workout activity received positive coverage in the Alsatian press and he was given a job in the municipality’s IT department in May 2013.3 In June 2014, Nassoulkhanov abruptly visited his native Chechnya for a month.4 He returned to France but radicalized very quickly. Nassoulkhanov quit his job in August and traveled to Syria where he linked up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].5 In January 2015, Nassoulkhanov appeared in a DaIISh propaganda video in which he came out in support of the deadly attack against the Parisian headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine a few days earlier and threatened further attacks against Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland.6 Nassoulkhanov furthermore called upon Muslims in Europe to launch killing sprees on their own accord if they were unable to join the DaIISh.7 By late 2017, rumors of his death began to circulate in the Chechen community of the Alsace.8
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