2015 Thalys train attack

The assailant, later identified as Ayoub El Khazzani, initially claimed to be only a robber, but later confessed that he had wanted to "kill Americans" as revenge for bombings in Syria.

Thalys passenger train 9364 from Amsterdam to Paris crossed the Belgian border to France at approximately 17:45 CEST on 21 August 2015.

Seated nearby, American-born Frenchman Mark Moogalian (age 51)[17] saw the scuffle, got up, and in the ensuing struggle wrested the rifle from El Khazzani.

[19] Sitting about 10 meters down the aisle from El Khazzani were three American friends, two of them off-duty members of the United States Armed Forces: 23-year-old Airman First Class Spencer Stone,[28] 22-year-old Specialist Alek Skarlatos,[25][29][30][31] and 23-year-old Anthony Sadler.

[4] Skarlatos seized the jammed rifle off the floor and began "muzzle-thumping" El Khazzani about the head, while Stone continued his choke-hold.

[41] Stone, a military-trained medic,[39] tried to stop the severe bleeding from Moogalian's gunshot wound by wrapping his shirt around the injury.

[1] Ayoub El Khazzani[45] (born 3 September 1989,[46] also spelled El-Khazzani and el-Qazzani) from Morocco[47] was identified as the assailant by French and Spanish authorities; he had boarded the train in Brussels.

[54] During his time in Spain, he attracted the attention of authorities after making speeches defending jihad, attending a known radical mosque, and being involved in drug trafficking.

[16][54][55] El Khazzani initially told his lawyer that he was simply a homeless man who, while sleeping in a Brussels park, found a suitcase containing a rifle and pistol, and that he had no intention to massacre the passengers but planned to rob them so that he might eat.

[5][58] According to prosecutor François Molins, El Khazzani listened to a "YouTube audio file in which the individual exhorted his followers to raise arms and fight in the name of the prophet" and that his Internet browsing history showed "clear evidence of terrorist intent.

"[10] French authorities did not believe the claims by El Khazzani that he wasn't planning a mass killing in light of the nine fully loaded magazines he had brought on board in order to reload his weapon.

[60] French newspaper La Voix du Nord said that the gunman in the Thalys attack may have had connections to groups targeted by the Belgian counter-terror operation, and authorities investigated the link.

[68] El Khazzani: The prosecutors got the convictions and the sentences they sought: for attempted murders and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, received life and lifetime deportation from France.

The judge said that the court did not find the protestations of innocence credible and added that police investigations had found many telephone calls proved that he was a close associate of the El Bakraoui brothers, who had killed themselves and victims in the 2016 Brussels suicide bombings.

The following passengers were noted by the press for their involvement in the incident: Norman, Sadler, Skarlatos, and Stone were made Knights of the Legion of Honour (chevaliers de la Légion d'honneur) on 24 August by French president François Hollande.

[82][83] Moogalian was also made a Knight of the Legion of Honour on 13 September 2015,[84] with Damien A. expected to be similarly honored at a later date;[82] he reportedly received it in the post while preserving his anonymity.

[90] Sadler, Skarlatos, and Stone were naturalized as French citizens in an honorary ceremony at the Alliance française in Sacramento, California on 31 January 2019.

[95] Geens said "I do not believe that these weapons are of Belgian origin" and "there are far too many illegal Kalashnikovs and [military surplus] arriving in Belgium from Eastern Europe.

[99] Belgian prime minister Charles Michel called for urgent talks with France, Germany and the Netherlands on increasing security on cross-border trains.

[105] On 21 August, the anti-terrorist section of the French public prosecutor's office in Paris took over the investigation based on "the arms used, the events that unfolded, and the context.

[111][112] At the initiative of the French National Railway's President, Guillaume Pepy, an internal investigation was launched by Thalys in order to shed light on the sequence of events during the attack.

Chatra is implicated as having played the role of people smuggler for El Khazzani and Abaaoud on their return journey from Syria amongst the flow of migrants.

Mohamed Bakkali is considered an essential logistician in the terrorist cell, and Youssef Siraj is accused of having housed El Khazzani in Brussels before the attack.

"[117] Agnès Ogier, director-general of Thalys, defended the train employees, who she said "have fulfilled their duty" and were unaware the terrorist had been subdued.

[119][120][121] On 1 September, the French public prosecutor's office issued a warning to television network i-Télé after its 25 August broadcast showing suspect El Khazzani arriving at the courthouse in handcuffs.

i-Télé digitally blurred out El Khazzani's hands, but the prosecutor's office warned the network that this was insufficient, and criminal charges would be brought against it if this reoccurred.

Map of main Thalys routes and connections
Diagram from Thalys internal report [ 13 ]
Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, President Hollande, Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos after their Legion of Honour ceremony at the Élysée Palace on 24 August 2015
Spencer Stone talks to reporters during a news conference in Paris on 23 August 2015