• A 23-year-old Muslim, Aboubakar, was killed in an Islamophobic attack at a mosque in southern France by a French man.
• The attacker filmed himself insulting Islam during the hate crime.
A fatal Islamophobic attack at the Khadidja Mosque in southern France has resulted in the killing of a 23 year-old Muslim worshipper. The man was identified as Aboubakar, who was originally from Mali.
French media report that the suspect, a 20-year-old French national, filmed himself after the killing, brandishing a knife and making grossly insulting remarks about Allah (swt) and the victim during his final moments before death.
Investigators are examining the man’s motive, according to local reports. Ales public prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini stated that while the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) is closely monitoring the case, it has not formally assumed control. Grini noted that the victim was a regular attendee at the mosque in Trescol, a hamlet within La Grand-Combe, whereas the suspected attacker was unknown to the community.
Surveillance footage from cameras inside and around the mosque captured images of the assailant, who appears to be unfamiliar to both local residents and worshippers.
Sources cited by Le Parisien reveal that after stabbing the victim repeatedly, the suspect recorded the aftermath using his mobile phone.
In response, the La Grand-Combe community has launched a fundraising campaign to repatriate Aboubakar’s body to his family in Mali.
Prime Minister François Bayrou condemned the killing in strong terms, describing it as an “Islamophobic atrocity.”
“A worshipper was murdered yesterday,” Bayrou wrote on X. “The Islamophobic atrocity was displayed in a video,” he added.
“We stand with the victim’s loved ones, with the believers who are so shocked. State resources are mobilised to ensure the killer is apprehended and punished,” Bayrou continued.
Although the stabbing itself was not shared on social media, security cameras captured the attack. In footage recorded by the assailant, he acknowledges the cameras, stating: “I am going to be arrested — that’s for sure.”
Reports assert that the assailant had pretended to be interested in Islam and asked Aboubakar how to pray. He initially prayed alongside him before stabbing Aboubakar up to 50 times whilst he was in the position of prostration. After stabbing the worshipping Muslim, the attacker fled the scene. The suspect has been identified as Olivier H, a French citizen of Bosnian origin who is not a Muslim. The authorities are hunting the suspect.
Aboubakar’s body was later discovered by worshippers arriving for Friday prayers.
