Female Paris suicide bomber was being watched by police over drugs case

Police confirm Hasna Aitboulahcen was the woman who blew herself up in siege in Saint-Denis
Female suicide bomber: Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old daughter of a Moroccan immigrant
Jamie Bullen20 November 2015

The woman who blew herself up in a Paris apartment as armed police closed in on the mastermind of the capital’s terror attacks was under police surveillance, it has emerged

Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old daughter of a Moroccan immigrant, was being watched because her name was mentioned in a drug-trafficking case, according to a police union official.

Forensic teams at the scene in Saint Denis
Jeremy Selwyn

She died in an apartment in St Denis on Wednesday after she detonated her suicide vest along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the man investigators say orchestrated the attacks across Paris on Friday in which 129 people were killed.

Her role, if any, in the massacre remains unclear as does her exact connection with Abaaoud after police officials described them as cousins, a term used by young French people of North African descent to refer to close friends of no blood relation.

Aitboulahcen rarely visited a mosque deciding instead to live a secular life and often drank alcohol.

A bloodied man is led away from the scene of the siege in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis
Reuters

According to officials, her last moments were marked by an angry exchange in police during the seven-hour siege.

"Where is your boyfriend?" an officer demanded to which she replied: "He's not my boyfriend!"

Then an explosion was triggered, which police said was the detonation of the bomb in her vest.

Parts of her mangled body were blown onto a police car parked outside the apartment where she and nine others, including Abaaoud, engaged in an hours-long standoff.

Born in the Paris suburb of Clichy-la-Garenne, Aitboulahcen moved to the eastern French town of Creutzwald with her parents and four siblings when she was 16.

A window pock-marked with bullet holes after the gun battle in Saint Denis
Jeremy Selwyn

She had a sister and two brothers, Creutzwald mayor Jean-Luc Wozniak said. He added that the four siblings spent some time in foster care, and the family moved into an apartment located in a housing project in 2006.

Some years later Aitboulahcen left Creutzwald and settled in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, returning occasionally to visit her father, Mr Wozniak said.

Her father, who was born in Marrakech, and her older sister moved to Morocco, the mayor added.

Two years ago, Aitboulahcen briefly managed a construction company based in the Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine that went bankrupt less than 10 months later, according to an official registry of company filings.

Neighbours and relatives quoted by French media said she drank alcohol and rarely attended a mosque.

Because her name came up in a drug-trafficking case, Aitboulahcen was under surveillance, and her movements may have led authorities to the Saint-Denis flat.

Authorities had tapped her phone at the time of the raid, according to two police officials. They did not say when the wiretap began.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in