Accomplices spent months helping Nice truck killer prepare attack – French prosecutor

Accomplices spent months helping Nice truck killer prepare attack – French prosecutor

Reuters

The man responsible for mowing down 84 people in Nice planned the attack in advance, and was aided by a tight-knit team of associates, who helped him develop the plan, and acquired weapons for him.

“He seems to have envisaged and developed his criminal plans several months before carrying them out,” said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, speaking at a news briefing on Thursday.

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“The investigation since the night of July 14 has kept moving forward and allowed us not only to confirm again the premeditated nature of [killer] Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s deadly act, but also to establish that he benefited from support and had accomplices in the preparation and carrying out of his criminal act.”

Police have uncovered hundreds of contacts and messages between Lahouaiej Bouhlel, and five accomplices, after going through his social media accounts, laptop and phone records.

"Put 2,000 tons of metal in the truck, f**k the brakes, and I'll be watching," says one message sent to Lahouaiej Bouhlel in April.

Four men and one woman have been arrested in connection with the case. Among the suspects are a Tunisian man (like the terrorist himself), two French-Tunisians, an Albanian, and a French-Albanian woman. They are aged between 22 and 40.

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The five, none of whom were on any terror suspect list, will soon appear before a court, to be read their initial charges.

The findings appear to contradict initial claims that the attacker was a “lone wolf” and was“radicalized” quickly.

There are pro-jihadist messages dating back at least as far back as January 2015, in which one of the suspects writes, "I'm happy they brought the soldiers of Allah to finish the work," following the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine.

In the past year alone, Lahouaiej Bouhlel, had more than 1,270 conversations from his mobile with one of the men.