AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW 1.7 Other KHALID BEN LARBI Role: Amember of the Verviers cell. Bio: A 23-year-old from Molenbeek, Ben Larbi had a history of petty crime including theft, and is 533 believed to have travelled to fight in Syria with Katibat al-Battar in 2014 before returning to Belgium in 534 December 2014. Having used false identity papers, Ben Larbi was killed in a gun battle with Belgian 535 police during a raid on the cell on 15 January 2015. Police discovered Kalashnikovs, bomb-making 536 equipment and police uniforms at the scene. Foreign training/combat: Katibat al-Battar, a militia in Syria associated with IS claimed Ben Larbi had 537 fought with them in Syria. Movements: 538 Syria (2014). Criminal history: 539 Ben Larbi reportedly had a history of petty crime, including theft and robbery. Known to the authorities: Both Ben Larbi and his associate, Sofiane Amghar, were under Belgian 540 surveillance before the police raid in which they were killed. Networks and associates: -! Paris attacks (November 2015): Abdelhamid Abaaoud [Believed to have been plotting to kill 541 police officers with Abaaoud]. Verviers cell: 542 -! Sofiane Amghar [Plotted together to attack Belgian police]; Marouane el-Bali 543 [Suspected of providing logistics for the cell and present in the house during the firefight]. SOFIANE AMGHAR Role: Amember of the Verviers cell. Bio: A 26-year-old from Molenbeek, Amghar had a history of petty crime, and is believed to have travelled 544 545 to fight in Syria with Katibat al-Battar in 2014 before returning to Belgium in December 2014. Having used false identity papers, Amghar was killed in a gun battle with Belgian police during a raid on the cell ! ! 533 Dalton, M., ‘Two Killed in Belgian Terror Raid Linked to Militants in Syria’, The Wall Street Journal, 3 February 2015, available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/two-killed-in-belgian-terror-raid-linked-to-militants-in-syria-1422992315, last visited: 9 August 2016. 534 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. 535 Dalton, M., ‘Investigators Home In on Scope of Terror Network Behind Brussels, Paris Attacks’, The Wall Street Journal, 4 April 2016. 536 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. 537 Dalton, M., ‘Two Killed in Belgian Terror Raid Linked to Militants in Syria’, The Wall Street Journal, 3 February 2015. 538 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. 539 Dalton, M., ‘Two Killed in Belgian Terror Raid Linked to Militants in Syria’, The Wall Street Journal, 3 February 2015. 540 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. 541 Dearden, L., ‘Abdelhamid Abaaoud: What we know about Belgian man identified as suspected Paris attacks 'mastermind'’, Independent, 16 November 2015. 542 ibid. 543 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. 544 Dalton, M., ‘Two Killed in Belgian Terror Raid Linked to Militants in Syria’, The Wall Street Journal, 3 February 2015. 545 Waterfield, B., ‘Belgian police admit seeking wrong man as Vervier shooutout jihadists named’, The Telegraph, 22 January 2015. ! ! 47 !