Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel
محمد لحويج بوهلال
Born	(1985-01-03)3 January 1985 M'saken, Sousse Governorate, Tunisia
Died	14 July 2016(2016-07-14) (aged 31) Nice, France
Cause of death	Gunshot wound
Nationality	Tunisian
Known for	2016 Nice attack
Details
Country	France
Location(s)	Promenade des Anglais, Nice
Target(s)	Bastille Day crowds
Killed	84
Injured	303 (52 critically)
Weapons	Cargo truck and a handgun

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel (French pronunciation: [mɔamɛd lauɛʒ bulɛl]; Arabic: محمد لحويج بوهلال Muḥammad Laḥwiyyij-Būhlāl; January 3, 1985 – July 14, 2016) was a Tunisian terrorist living in France who carried out the 2016 Nice attack in which he drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, killing 84 people and injuring 303.^[2]

Life

Bouhlel was born in M'saken, Tunisia, a small town about 10 kilometres (6 mi) outside the coastal city of Sousse and, according to police reports, he had a French residency permit and lived in Nice,^[3] having moved there around 2005, where he worked as a delivery-truck driver.^[4] Boulel was married with three children, but in the process of divorce. He was reported to have had financial difficulties and to have worked as a driver, acquiring a truck permit less than a year before the attack.^[5] In January 2016, he fell asleep at the wheel of a van, and was subsequently sacked.^[6]

His parents are divorced.^[7] His father, who lives in the family's native town, told an international news agency that Bouhlel suffered from depression, drank alcohol and was a drug user: "From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted … he would break anything he saw in front of him."^[8] Bouhlel's sister, Rabeb Bouhlel, said that his family handed over documents to the police showing that he had been seeing psychologists for several years.^[9] His father and his younger brother insisted that the attack "had nothing to do with religion", stating that Bouhlel did not pray and never observed the holy month of Ramadan. His brother claimed that Bouhlel did not know people, never sent his family presents, and never said hello.^[10]

According to media reports, Bouhlel was known to police for five prior criminal offenses, notably regarding armed violence. On 27 January 2016, he was put on probation for attacking a motorist with a wooden pallet after a traffic accident. He was convicted on 24 March 2016, and given a six-month suspended sentence on charges of violence with a weapon.^[11][12][13] Bouhlel was last arrested less than a month before the attack after a traffic accident in which he had been sleeping at the wheel, and he remained subject to judicial supervision. He was, however, not registered as a national security risk (fiche "S") with French authorities.^[5]

Reports say that Bouhlel often used to visit Tunisia, saying the last time he did so was eight months ago.^[7]

Suspected affiliations

It was reported that the perpetrator shouted "Allahu Akbar!" during the attack,^[14] and a French prosecutor claimed that the attack "bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism."^[15] However, a preliminary investigation by French officials has not connected Bouhlel to any international terror groups.^[16] Amaq News Agency, an online presence said to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), called Bouhlel "one of the soldiers of Islamic State." It cited a "security source" which said Bouhlel "carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State".^[17]

Bouhlel was not known by Tunisian authorities to have been involved in any terrorism activities on Tunisian soil.^[7] His name was not in the French database of suspected Islamic militants.^[18] According to a cousin of Bouhlel's wife, Bouhlel was not a religious person and did not attend a mosque.^[13] Bouhlel's cousin said that he "wasn't a Muslim", and his neighbor said he drank alcohol and never attended mosque.^[19] The Guardian noted that his lack of religious piety is typical for the French and Belgian subjects involved in terrorist rampages earlier in 2016, and Mohammed Merah (the perpetrator of the Toulouse and Montauban shootings) also matched this profile.^[20]

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls proclaimed that Bouhlel was "probably linked to radical Islam in one way or another", and put the attack in the context of a "war" against terrorism and "extremist" Islam both outside and within France.^[21] This allegation was initially cautioned by the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who said "We have an individual who was not known to intelligence services for activities linked to radical Islam" and who could not confirm Bouhlel's motives were linked to radical jihadism.^[15]

On 15 July, Bouhlel's estranged wife and a man were arrested, followed by three more men the next day. The French prosecutor's office did not immediately disclose who the men are or why anyone was detained.^[13][22] The next day, Cazeneuve said "It seems that he [Bouhlel] radicalized himself very quickly," as part of findings in early investigations.^[23]

Two days after the attack, some reports stated that Bouhlel more likely motivated by a desire to commit suicide than Islamist ideology. Even though ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack and called Bouhlel as "soldier of Islam", investigators stated that the attack may have been "a suicide case who decided to make his suicide look like an Islamist attack".^[10]

2016 attack in Nice and death

He was present at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice twice in the two days before the attack, as emerged from CCTV cameras. He also took selfies at the wheel of the truck before the attack and shared them by text message. Over 200 investigators try to identify the recipients of the messages.^[24]

Bouhlel was shot dead by French police officers attempting to force him to stop his truck.^[25] The French prosecutor stated that the attack "bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism" but that no group had claimed responsibility for the attack,^[15] and a preliminary investigation by French officials has not connected Bouhlel to any international terror groups.^[26]

References