Najm al-'Ashrāwī (, 18 May 1991 – 22 March 2016), also known as Abū Idrīs al-Baljīkī or Soufiane Kayal, was a Belgian-Moroccan terrorist and

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

militant who was one of two suicide bombers at

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport is the main international airport of Belgium. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in Flemish Brabant, northeast of Brussels. Also informally known as Brussels-National Airport or Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Brussels ...

in the 2016 Brussels bombings. The Islamic State confirmed that he was responsible for making all the explosives used in the

November 2015 Paris attacks A series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:16, three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France in Saint-De ...

Early life

Laachraoui was born in Ajdir, Taza Province,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

but raised in the

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

neighbourhood of Brussels, where he attended a Catholic high school. Laachraoui studied engineering at the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

from 2009 to 2010, but did not complete his degree. He then studied

electromechanics Electromechanics combine processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focus on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems interact with each ...

at the

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

from 2010 to 2011. Laachraoui worked at the Brussels Airport for five years until the end of 2012.

Islamic State

Laachraoui reportedly traveled to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in February 2013, where his family lost contact with him. The

confirmed in ''Dabiq'' magazine that he traveled to IS in 2013. He was part of Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen, a group led by Abu Atheer al-Absi. He is described as one of the first to have pledged allegiance to

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed hims ...

after the dispute between IS and Jabhat al-Nusra. He participated in several battles against the regime of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

. He suffered a bullet wound to his leg in battles against Jabhat al-Nusra in the city of Deir Ezzor. It was several months after this wound healed that he began to train to carry out the attack in Brussels. The Islamic State confirmed that he was responsible for preparing all of the explosives used during the

and the 2016 Brussels bombings. In 2013 and 2014, he was, according to four ex-hostages, working as a prison guard called "Abou Idriss" for the

. His travel to Syria resulted in the mayor of Schaerbeek declaring that Laachraoui had been removed from the voting rolls in 2015, but being "powerless to do more".

Brussels attack

In February 2016, Laachraoui was suspected of involvement with a possible terrorist cell led by Khalid Zerkani, who recruited fighters in Syria, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the organiser of the November 2015 Paris attacks. He went to trial and was awaiting sentencing at the time of the Brussels bombings, which was scheduled for May 2016. Like the Bakraoui brothers, Laachraoui evaded capture during the police raids on 15 and 18 March 2016 which captured Salah Abdeslam. Laachraoui is believed to be an accomplice of Abdeslam, with whom he travelled across Europe under the false identity of Soufiane Kayal. Laachraoui is also believed to have made the

suicide vest Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

s used in the attacks against the Bataclan theatre and the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Paris. He also rented a house occupied by assailants involved in the Paris attacks. In July 2016, IS released a video celebrating several terrorist attacks that took place during the month of Ramadan showing Mohamed Belkaid, and Laachraoui and displaying his nom de guerre Abu Idris al-Beljiki.

Family

Najim Laachraoui was the brother of taekwondo practitioner Mourad Laachraoui, who won a gold medal at the 2016 European Taekwondo Championships and who was expected to compete at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, but did not.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laachraoui, Najim 1991 births 2016 deaths Belgian mass murderers Belgian people of Berber descent Belgian people of Moroccan-Berber descent Islamic terrorism in Belgium Moroccan emigrants to Belgium Moroccan Islamists Moroccan murderers 21st-century Moroccan criminals People from Schaerbeek Perpetrators of the 2016 Brussels bombings Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Belgium Islamist suicide bombers Islamist mass murderers

Early life

Islamic State

Brussels attack

Family

See also

References