Roubaix Jihadi Network (Jihadi Entity, France)

• Local Name: Filière Jihadiste de Roubaix
• Transliteration: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Status: 2013 – 2015 (Defeated0
• Conflicts: Islamist Militancy in France, Syrian Civil War

The Roubaix Jihadi Network [FJR; Filière Jihadiste de Roubaix] was a loose association of Islamists based in the northern French cities of Lille and Roubaix. It was made up of supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].¹ The FJR aimed to assist the DaIISh but had no intentions to carry out attacks in France.

The FJR emerged in the early 2010s. It formed around M’Barek Chaabi who served as a spiritual leader in the local community of radicalized Muslim immigrants.² The network facilitated contacts and logistics for Islamists who wanted to join the DaIISh in Syria. In the summer of 2013, the first FJR associate traveled with Mourad Farès to the Levant.³ Over the next months, the FJR helped at least ten others reach Syria.⁴ These elements usually settled in the city of Raqqa.⁵ Elements of the network also transferred money to DaIISh operatives in Iraq and Syria.⁶

The FJR came under investigation by French authorities after the father of one of its recruits filed a complaint with police.⁷ Chaabi further drew attention in January 2015 when he draped his bookshop with jihadi flags.⁸ In March 2015, Spanish authorities arrested an ally of the network. During interrogations, he revealed to have cooperated with the FJR to send jihadis from northern France to Syria.⁹

On Jun. 26, 2015, French authorities rolled up the FJR when it arrested five key members and swept premises linked to the network in a series of raids in Lille and Roubaix.¹⁰ Five FJR elements were brought to trial in 2018.¹¹ Several key operatives, including Chaabi, were sentenced to prison by a court in Paris on Nov. 09, 2018.¹²