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2015 Thalys train attack

Coordinates: 50°28′07.1″N 3°00′21.80″E / 50.468639°N 3.0060556°E / 50.468639; 3.0060556
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2015 Thalys attack
Photograph of a Thalys train
The attack took place on a Thalys train similar to this one.
StandortOn board Thalys train n°9364 in Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, France. Train rerouted to Arras, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Date21 August 2015 (2015-08-21)
17:45 (CEST)
WeaponsKalashnikov rifle, pistol, box cutter
Injured5 (including the perpetrator, 2 directly)
PerpetratorsAyoub El Kahzani[1]

The 2015 Thalys attack was an attempted mass shooting that took place on 21 August in Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, France.[2][3] The attack occurred on a Thalys train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris via Brussels.[2] After opening fire in the train car, the perpetrator was subdued by three Americans, and tied up by them and a Briton. Including the assailant, five people were injured, none fatally.[4] The incident has been labelled a terrorist attack.[5]

Attack

Map of main Thalys connections

At approximately 17:45 (5:45 p.m.) on 21 August, on Thalys train 9364[6] traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, a 26-year-old Moroccan man[1][7] opened fire with an AK-47 on train car No. 12. Bernard Cazeneuve says that a French passenger travelling to the toilet tried to stop the man entering the carriage.[8] The assailant wounded a Franco-American man's neck with a handgun.[9][10] He was then tackled and subdued by a group of three American friends, two of them off-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces.[11][12][13] The Americans overwhelmed him, got him in a chokehold, and beat him until he lost consciousness. Afterwards, aided by a Briton, they used his T-shirt to tie his arms behind his back.[7] They then helped the passenger with the wounded neck, who was losing blood.[10]

United States Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone, 19-year-old Cal-State Sacramento senior Anthony Sadler,[14] and Alek Skarlatos, a 22-year-old Oregon Army National Guard member on holiday after deployment in Afghanistan,[15] were identified as the Americans who stopped the assailant. British national Chris Norman, a 62-year-old businessman[16], was also reported to have assisted with tying up the attacker.[17]

Sadler told CNN that when the gunman opened fire, Skarlatos yelled "Get him!" after which "Spencer immediately gets up to charge the guy, followed by Alek, then myself."[6] In an interview with Sky News, Skarlatos added that they had been lucky that the attacker's rifle had jammed.[18]

The 23-year-old Stone was reportedly the first one to attack the gunman and was slashed multiple times while trying to subdue him, sustaining injuries at the head and neck. Stone was the one who had him in the chokehold, holding on though the assailant was cutting him with a box cutter, nearly severing his thumb.[19] Despite the injuries, Stone was able to help the passenger with the neck injury.[6]

A video made with a cellphone shows the alleged perpetrator immobile, lying hogtied on the floor of the train, and blood visible on the windows and seats.[6]

The train, which was carrying 554 passengers,[4] was rerouted to Arras in the Pas-de-Calais department. The man shot through the neck was airlifted to the University Hospital in Lille. Stone later underwent surgery on his injured hand.[5]

Account of Jean-Hugues Anglade

Jean-Hugues Anglade, a French actor traveling with his wife and children in the No. 11 car (the last car before the rear engine), was critical of the crew of the Thalys for locking themselves in the engine car and not coming to the aid of passengers. Anglade told Paris Match that they heard gunshots and screaming in the next car, after which several crew members rushed past them to the engine car, opened it with a special key and locked themselves inside. Anglade, who cut his hand when he broke the glass to trigger the alarm, said he saw the gunman through the door between the cars. He described feeling that they were all going to die, and said, "It was impossible to escape from this nightmare. We were trapped in a mousetrap! It's a terrifying feeling of helplessness."[20]

Anglade stated that the dozen passengers in his car were pressed against the engine car door, banging on it and begging the crew to open it. "We shouted for staff to let us in, we were yelling, 'Open up!' in vain.... Nobody responded to us. Radio silence. This abandonment -- so much distress, loneliness -- it was terrible and unbearable! For us it was inhuman. The minutes seemed like hours." Anglade stated that Anthony Sadler came into their car to tell them the assailant had been subdued and to get blankets and a first aid kit for the wounded. Sadler also banged on the door of the engine car to no avail, said Anglade, who expressed his thanks. "We are shocked, but we are alive, and that's the point. We were in the wrong place, but with the right people. It's a miracle. We were incredibly lucky to have these American soldiers. I want to pay tribute to their heroic courage and thank them; without them we'd all be dead."[20]

Suspect

Ayoub El Kahzani, a 26-year-old from Morocco, was identified as the suspected assailant by French and Spanish authorities. Prior to the attempted attack, he resided in Montauban-de-Bretagne, Ille-et-Villaine, France, since 2014.[21] He boarded the train in Brussels,[22] but he was carrying no identification.[21] He was carrying the Kalashnikov with nine magazines, a semi-automatic pistol, and a box cutter. El Kahzani was apparently known to French authorities and had been tagged with a "fiche S" (S card), the highest "warning" level for French state security. He had been similarly profiled by Belgian and Spanish authorities. El Kahzani had reportedly lived in Spain from 2007 to March 2014 (in Madrid and Algeciras"El autor del atentado contra el tren Ámsterdam- París vivió en Algeciras". El País (in Spanish). 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.) before moving to France, at which time the Spanish authorities informed the French of their suspicions. He had reportedly spent time in Syria before moving to France..[8][1]

Reactions

 Frankreich – The Americans and Norman were hailed as "true heroes" and received medals for bravery from the mayor of Arras.[23] Stone was hospitalized overnight with the wounds he suffered from the box cutter, including a gash to the back of his neck.[24]

French president François Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised them for their bravery.[4]

 Belgien – "We have opened an inquiry under the anti-terrorism law ... as the suspect boarded the train in Brussels," Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said.[25]

 Vereinigtes Königreich – British Prime Minister David Cameron praised the "extraordinary courage" of those involved in taking down the attacker.[4]

 Vereinigte Staaten - The White House expressed gratitude for the "courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including U.S. service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker... It is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy."[6]

Sicherheit

In January 2015, French security officials determined that Amedy Coulibaly purchased automatic weapons and a rocket launcher from Belgian gangs,[26] leading to an anti-terror operation in Belgium to discover networks of weapons smuggling.[27] Stockpiles of Kalashnikov rifles were found in Verviers, Liège, where two suspects who had traveled to Syria were killed in a shootout with police.[28] French Newspaper La Voix du Nord says that the gunman in the Thalys attack may have had connections to groups targeted by the counter-terror operation, and authorities are investigating the link.[8]

In response to the attack, the Belgian government decided to increase patrols of French and Belgian police on Thalys trains and increase baggage checks.[29] Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called for urgent talks with France, Germany and the Netherlands on increasing security on cross-border trains.[30] The European Commission said that the Schengen treaty is non-negotiable, and that increased security checks cannot include border checks.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tirs dans un Thalys : ce que l'on sait du suspect". Le Monde (in French). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Des militaires américains évitent un carnage dans un Thalys reliant Amsterdam à Paris". Le Monde (in French). 21 August 2015.
  3. ^ Inti Landauro and Sam Schechner (21 August 2015). "Three Wounded in Attack on French Train". WSJ.
  4. ^ a b c d "France train shooting: Three hurt and man arrested - BBC News". bbc.com. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b Newmark, Zack. "Three hurt in Amsterdam-to-Paris train "terrorist attack"". NL Times. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e "2 members of U.S. military stop Islamist attacker on train in Belgium". CNN. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b Suc, Matthieu (22 August 2015). "Attaque dans le Thalys : " J'ai levé la tête et j'ai vu un gars avec un AK-47 "". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 22 August 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c "France train gunman identified as Islamist militant". Reuters. 22 August 2015.
  9. ^ "US student tells of his attack on French train gunman". The Guardian. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  10. ^ a b "France: 3 Americans subdue gunman on high-speed train". AP. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  11. ^ "'I realised the only way to survive was to go for him' - British hero describes moment he and three Americans beat up train terrorist". The Telegraph. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Deux blessés par balle dans un Thalys reliant Amsterdam à Paris" (in French). Le Monde/AFP. Retrieved 21 August 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "French official: 2 Americans subdued train gunman". Washington Post. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  14. ^ "France high-speed train shooting: Aftermath of attack". The Telegraph. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  15. ^ "U.S. soldier wounded helping to overpower gunman on train in France". Reuters. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  16. ^ http://www.france24.com/en/20150822-france-train-attack-briton-chris-norman-thalys
  17. ^ Video with segments of an interview of Skarlatos, Sadler and Norman
  18. ^ "US Soldier: How We Stopped Train Gunman". Sky News. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  19. ^ Mikelbank, Peter (22 August 2015). "'Wrong Place, Right People': U.S. Servicemen, Passengers Speak Out after Foiling Possible Terror Attack on European Train". People. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  20. ^ a b Blachere, Emilie (22 August 2015). "Anglade: "Rendre hommage à leur courage héroïque". Paris Match. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  21. ^ a b Teruel, Ana, Rodríguez, Jorge A. "Un residente en España, autor del atentado en el tren francés". El País. Retrieved 22 August 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (22 August 2015). "France train attack: Americans overpower gunman on Paris express". The Guardian.
  23. ^ "Le courage des héros américains et britanniques du Thalys salué après l'attaque". FranceTV. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  24. ^ Vely, Yannick (22 August 2015). "Les deux héros du Thalys". Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  25. ^ "Belgium opens anti-terror probe in Thalys train attack". RFI. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  26. ^ "Paris attack guns 'bought by Amedy Coulibaly in Belgium'". Telegraph.co.uk. 14 January 2015.
  27. ^ "2 Dead, 1 Wounded In Belgian Anti-Terror Operation". NPR.org. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  28. ^ "Focus turns to Belgium security after high-speed train attack". RFI. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  29. ^ "Belgium steps up security measures after train attack". News24.
  30. ^ "Belgium calls on neighbors for more security on cross-border trains". Yahoo News. 22 August 2015.

50°28′07.1″N 3°00′21.80″E / 50.468639°N 3.0060556°E / 50.468639; 3.0060556

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