An Islamist militant who tried but failed to kill passengers in a high-speed train en route to Paris was sentenced to life imprisonment, Reuters reported.
A Paris court found Moroccan national Ayoub El Khazzani of attempted murder with intent to commit terrorism. The ruling was handed down a day after another Paris court sentenced 14 individuals for their part in a series of terror attacks that happened in January 2015.
The attack, which took place August 21, 2015, also happened just seven months after the January ambush, which includes the assault on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
On the day of the attack, El Khazzani was said to have opened fire with an assault rifle in an Amsterdam-to-Paris Thalys train and managed to wound two passengers before he was overpowered by three civilians.
El Khazzani launched his attacks moments after the Thalys train crossed into France from Belgium where he boarded from, carrying with him 300 rounds of ammunition, a handgun, and a cutter, aside from his rifle.
Euronews reported that three other men were sentenced to multiple years of imprisonment in relation to their role in the failed terror attack.
Bilal Chatra and Mohamed Bakkali were sentenced to 27 years and 25 years, respectively, while Redouane El Amrani Ezzerrifi, was slapped with a seven-year jail time.
The train attack was allegedly organised by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is also accused of being the coordinator of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. Abaaoud was killed by the police after the incident.
El Khazzani told the court Abaaoud concocted the plan for the train attack whom he was with in Syria and had traveled with him back to Brussels.
El Khazzani said Abaaoud told him to kill American soldiers who were in the car, along with the “European Commission,” though no members were on the train.
El Khazzani claimed that Abaaoud told him they were responsible for bombings in Syria, including a mosque that triggered his desire for revenge.
Photo by Nicolas Vigier/Flickr
