Hasna Aitboulahcen lived a secular life, drinking alcohol and rarely visiting a mosque, but the police say she died an extremist’s death: blowing herself up by detonating a suicide vest.
Hasna Aitboulahcen lived a secular life, drinking alcohol and rarely visiting a mosque, but the police say she died an extremist’s death: blowing herself up by detonating a suicide vest.
The 26-year-old daughter of a Moroccan immigrant had been under the police surveillance because her name came up in a drug-trafficking case, said a police union official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to media.
Aitboulahcen died on Wednesday as police closed in on an apartment in suburban Saint-Denis, along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the man suspected of orchestrating the November 13 attacks across Paris that killed 129 people. It was not known if she had any role in the attacks.
Also unclear is her exact connection to the 28-year-old Abaaoud, the son of a Moroccan-born shopkeeper in Brussels. Three police officials said Aitboulahcen often described herself as his “cousin,” but the term also is used by young French of North African descent to refer to close friends who are no blood relation.
Her final moments were marked by a brief, angry exchange with the police during the siege.
“Where is your boyfriend ” an officer demanded, according to an official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to disclose details of the investigation. She replied: “He’s not my boyfriend!” Then there was an explosion, which the 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 whe-re she and nine others, including Abaaoud, engaged in an hours-long standoff.
Born in the Paris suburb of Clichy-la-Garenne, Aitb-oulahcen moved to the eastern French town of Creu-tzwald with her parents and four siblings when she was 16. 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 Aitboul-ahcen left Creutzwald and settled in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, returning occasionally to visit her father, Mr Wozniak said.
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.
