When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
InterNations
Geopolitics

On The Trail Of Nice Killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel

The day after, the truck that ploughed into spectators in Nice
The day after, the truck that ploughed into spectators in Nice
Eric Galliano and Grégory Leclerc

NICE — There are still more questions than answers three days after Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a 20-ton truck through hundreds gathered to see the Bastille Day fireworks on the city's waterfront, killing 84 people and injuring more than 200, before being shot dead by police.

Still, a portrait of the 31-year-old divorced father of three is emerging, as authorities probe his movements, activities and the people with whom he was in contact in the days and weeks leading up to the attack.

Bouhlel was born in Tunisia but had a permit to live and work in France. He was a delivery driver known to the police as a petty criminal who had run-ins with the law since 2010 for theft and acts of violence, including incidents involving a gun.

Sources tell Nice-Matinthat Bouhel had been in the midst of moving houses, which he used as an excuse to justify renting the large truck. The recent DAF model LF was equipped with control devices that provide information on the driver's movements and actions, which investigators have already analyzed to obtain further information on the the routes he took.

These devices and the images from the CCTV footage show that the attacks were clearly planned ahead of time, as Bouhlel had scouted out the famous waterfront Promenade des Anglais on the two days before the attack.

The transport company where he worked describe somone who often would forget his keys in the truck or leave the headlights on all night. He was described as "often nervous" and "absent-minded."

One recent action in particular has drawn the attention of investigators. On July 6, Bouhlel transfered 24 euros ($26) to a website, under the heading "Islam" on his bank statement. He was not a religious man, however, these last months, he appeared to have taken a major interest in his Muslim roots. The hard disk of his computer showed that, shortly before the attack, he visited several sites of jihadist propaganda.

Accomplices, ideology

Among the unanswered questions. Did Bouhlel get external help? Did he have accomplices? Was it really in the name of the ISIS terrorist organization?

As has been reported, ISIS has claimed Bouhlel was one of its soldiers, but did he receive a direct order from the terror group, or was he inspired by their ideology?

French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve stated that "it seems he became radicalized very quickly." French authorities had never opened a security file on Bouhlel because he had no known ties to any terrorist or jihadist group.

President Francois Hollande said on Friday that it was "an attack whose terrorist nature cannot be denied."

To help find some anwsers, French authorities detained six people in connection with the attacks. Bouhlel's estranged wife was detained at her apartment Friday and released Sunday morning without charge. Henaj, a man who supposedly sold a gun that the driver carried in the truck, along with two replica assault rifles and a dummy grenade was arrested Sunday along with his wife.

Only hours before the Nice attack, Hollande had announced that France's state of emergency that had been instituted after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris would be removed later this month. After the attack in Nice, Hollande quickly changed course, announcing the special security measures were now being extended for another three months.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

NYC Postcard: My Arab-American Friends And The Shame Of India's Foreign Policy

The author's native country, India, is both a burgeoning world power and part of the Global South. And yet, its ambitious Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't dared to say a single word against Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank, even when countries in South America and Africa have severed their diplomatic relationships with Israel.

Photo of pro-Palestinian protesters marching in New York on Oct. 8

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York on Oct. 8

Shikhar Goel

-Essay-

NEW YORK — The three years since coming to New York as a graduate student have been the most demanding and stimulating period of my academic life. One of the most exciting and joyous accidents of this journey has been my close friendship with Arab students in this city.

I have shared a house with a Syrian and a Palestinian here in Brooklyn, which I have grown to call home. I now make makloubeh with lal mirch and garam masala. Pita bread with zaatar and olive oil has become my go-to midnight snack. I have gotten drunk on arak and unsuccessfully danced dabke at parties. The Delhi boy in me has also now learned to cuss in Arabic.

These friendships have made me realize how similar we are to each other as people. My best friend in the city happens to be a Palestinian Christian whose family was displaced from Jerusalem in 1948 and has lived in exile ever since.

My roommate is from the West Bank, where she and her family have to face the everyday humiliation of crossing Israeli checkpoints to travel in their own country.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest