Belgium point of support for the Kouachi-Coulibaly network? (Shift2)

(BRUXELLES2) The Kouachi and Coulibaly brothers would have supplied themselves with weapons in Belgium. Information sketched by online media Médiapart was supplemented on Tuesday and Wednesday (13 and 14 January) by the Belgian daily Last hour. According to our Belgian colleagues, “ the Scorpio (*) type submachine gun that Amedy Coulibaly had during the hostage-taking at the Porte de Vincennes comes from Brussels”. This weapon was used by Coulibaly during the attack on the Vincences hypercacher, according to the Paris prosecutor, in particular when he attempted an exit against the police. Other information : " the Kalashnikov and the rocket launcher used by the Kouachi brothers were bought by Coulibaly around the Gare du Midi, in Brussels, for less than €5.000 ».

Arrest in Charleroi

A resident of Charleroi (a Carolo) was also arrested on Tuesday (January 13) by the Charleroi police. The man, already known to Justice for various petty dealings presented himself (by himself) to the federal police of Charleroi ". " Visibly frightened - according to our colleagues from the DH -, the person concerned declared having had contact with Amedy Coulibaly who wanted to obtain a car. Not knowing the intentions of the terrorist, the Carolo trafficker allegedly undertook to roll him in flour by defrauding him during the transaction. After searching the home of the person concerned, the police " found papers proving a deal relating to the vehicle. But they also got their hands on other documents” (which) reported negotiations between Coulibaly and the Carolo suspect about weapons and ammunition. Among these would be a Tokarev 7.62 like the one used in Paris.

Belgium, supply point

Apparently, Belgium was a common location for the Coulibaly-Kouachi gang. Mediapart investigators revealed it on Sunday. To prepare for the escape from Clairvaux prison of two convicts, in particular Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem (one of the main leaders of the wave of attacks committed in France in 1995 attributed to the GIA), " the network spared no effort to buy weapons in Belgium ". A handwritten note was found in a member of the cell, addressed to an accomplice. He reported: “We need two Kalash, two calibers, ten grenades. Try to do it as soon as possible because we need it. It's up to you to talk to the brother who sells the weapons. My brother knows nothing, so negotiate a low price”. 

Terrorists who come to do their shopping in Belgium is nothing new. In the 1990s, in particular the Belgian police had updated the logistics cells of the GIA - the armed Islamist group to which Coulibaly is indirectly linked - responsible for welcoming GIA militants, buying equipment and weapons. A dozen militants in charge of arms trafficking, including Ahmed Zaoui, had been arrested in March 1995, reports then the evening. In 1998, it was Farid Melouk, involved in the attacks on the RER, who was arrested transporting explosives.

(NGV)

(*) Rather Skorpion, submachine gun of Czech origin, made famous by the Red Brigades and widely used in the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia (a licensed version was manufactured by the Yugoslav then Serbian factory in Zastava). It was thus used by the Roubaix gang, a criminal gang from the north of France, some of whose members had been trained by the Afghan Taliban and linked to Al Qaeda, during its actions in early 1996. But according to our readers, more specialized in weapons, this submachine gun is not a Skorpion.

(Updated - 15.1 with new elements - the arrest of a man in Charleroi - and the details of the armament)