His death will have placed him on the map. Little known to specialists in jihadist movements or Islamist terrorism, Abou Hamza was a French jihadist. He was killed on Sunday in Syria, during a fight between the army of Bashar al-Assad and the Ansar al-Tawhid group, supported by his group Firqat al Ghouraba, led by another Frenchman: Omar Omsen, also known as by Oumar Diaby. This former Franco-Senegalese delinquent who became a preacher has been described as an “international terrorist” by the United States. “With pride, we announce to our dear community the news of the martyrdom of one of its heroes among the muhajirin [émigrants] French, brother Abou Hamza,” the group announced in a statement on WhatsApp on Monday.
Who was Sofiane Merabet, alias Abou Hamza? What was he doing in Syria? What is the activity of his group? Using information collected from Wassim Nasr, a specialist in jihadist movements and author of The Islamic State, the fait accompli (Plon), and Jean-Charles Brisard, President of the Terrorism Analysis Center (CAT), 20 minutes tries to retrace his journey, from the Côte d’Azur to the camp of Omar Omsen in the province of Idlib, in northwestern Syria.
What is the profile of Sofiane Merabet, known as Abou Hamza?
Sofiane Merabet, who took the kunya (nom de guerre of a jihadist) Abou Hamza, was from Nice, like the leader of his group in Syria. He was born on November 11, 1994 in the Riviera city, according to Jean-Charles Brisard. He therefore died at the age of 28 in the Jabal al-Zawiya region, south of Idlib, “during an advance of the Assad regime”, specifies his group.
According to Jean-Charles Brisard, he arrived in Syria in 2013, before joining Omar Omsen’s group in 2017. However, assures Wassim Nasr, Sofiane Merabet arrived in the area in 2017, joining Firqat al Ghouraba in stride. A late arrival compared to the waves of departures of young French people in Syria and Iraq around 2014 and the proclamation of the caliphate by the Islamic State, which explains the little information circulating on the young Nice. Omar Omsen – considered one of the main recruiters of French jihadists in Syria – left for Syria in 2013. Four years later, the one who will call himself Abou Hamza joined the recruiter from Nice in his kataba (battalion).
What was its ideology and its role there?
However, “at the base, he was a quiet Salafist, therefore against armed jihad, in addition to criticizing Omar Omsen”, according to Wassim Nasr. He will therefore let himself be convinced by the head of Firqat al Ghouraba whom he knew from Nice, their common city, but will remain “discreet” on the ground. One thing is certain: he was never in the ranks of the Islamic State (IS). But what role did he have there? What importance did he have in the kataba ? Several questions remain unanswered at the time when his death was officially announced. He was buried in this region on Monday, according to unpublished images collected by Wassim Nasr and broadcast on France 24.
In the katiba camp he joined in Syria, he would have participated in the installation of cameras and motion detectors to monitor the surrounding walls, according to information from Wassim Nasr. Made up of an “overwhelming majority” of French people, Firqat al Ghouraba is a group of foreign fighters, as its Arabic name suggests. Some 115 people live there: men, women, children… “Omar Omsen and his group have never called for attacks, adds the specialist in jihadist movements. He applauded the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, but was against those of November 13” perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS). On the other hand, the recruiter from Nice continues to call on the French to come and fight in Syria or to join Afghanistan.
What is his group of fighters doing in Syria?
This katiba located in northwestern Syria was created when Omar Omsen arrived in the area in 2013. The Niçois has therefore been living there for almost ten years and leads this group of foreign fighters. He pretended to be dead in 2015 but finally reappeared safe and sound in 2016. After some tension between the two parties, the Nice recruiter’s katiba “works with the jihadist Uyghurs” of the Islamist Party of Turkestan, explains Wassim Nasr.
The battalion is at odds with Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) which holds the borders. Omar Omsen was imprisoned by the group for a year and a half, and his son for six months. Hayat Tahrir al Sham is a jihadist organization born of a split with the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria and completely independent of the terrorist group since 2018, explained at the time Wassim Nasr. Today they are fighting the Syrian army as well as what is left of the Islamic State. The katiba of foreigners also participated in the battle of Idlib in 2015, when a coalition of jihadist and rebel groups took the city lost by the Damascus regime. But Omar Omsen’s group has always refused to fight other jihadist factions.