Posing with two fingers up to the camera, this is Europe's first
female suicide bomber whose head flew through a window and landed on the street
when she blew herself up during the Saint-Denis siege.
Hasna Ait Boulahacen screamed, 'help me, help me!', before detonating
her suicide vest packed full of explosives as French anti-terror police moved
in on the terrorists' hiding place.
Her head and spine flew through a window before a ferocious
gun battle in Saint Denis where the mastermind of the Paris bombings,
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed.Witnesses said she went to a nearby KFC restaurant to buy some food and
looked 'relaxed' just hours before the blast.
Ait Boulahacen, 26, Abaaoud's cousin, was an
'extrovert' who drank alcohol and was nicknamed 'the cowgirl' due to her love
of wearing big cowboy hats.
Neighbours at the building where the family of Ait Boulahacen live in a
run-down suburb of Paris said the female suicide bomber had been there three
weeks ago. They said she had a bubbly personality, adding that she was 'outgoing, a bit
clueless'. They were shocked to see her face appear on the news. One neighbour, Hassane, described her as a 'Tom boy' and said she always
dressed in jeans, trainers and a black cap until around eight months ago when
she started wearing a niqab.
He said: 'She wasn't scared of anyone. She was like a little soldier. She was
very lively, very dynamic. He said: 'She didn't have a niqab [headscarf] before. She was always in jeans
and trainers. She was a very well-spoken girl. She was very respectful.'
The retired 62-year-old said that Hasna was always very helpful and had once
carried his heavy shopping for him. He said Hasna's mother had been comforted by the caretaker in the building and
had spent last night crying. He added: 'I can't believe she's part of this sect. When I heard it I felt
sick. She was like all young girls - it was who she was hanging out with. 'We have been tainted by these people that know nothing about Islam.' Another said: 'She did not look like a suicide bomber and she drank
alcohol.'
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| Killed: Anti terror police shot dead Paris bombings mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud (pictured) in the Saint Denis siege |
Moroccan-born Ait Boulahacen's family arrived in France in 1973 and settled in
Paris, where she was born in 1989 in Clichy-la-Garenne, a suburb close to
Wednesday's gun siege. She had been brought up in foster families and her parents had separated when
she was young, they said. Hasna's mother, whose first name is not known, lives in a tower block in Aulnay
Sous Bois, a suburb 20 minutes outside of Paris. It is understood that although Hasna visited often, she did not live there
permanently. Friends said she remained 'close' to her father and would regularly visit his
home in Creutzwald, Moselle.
Ait Boulahacen studied at Paul Verlaine University in Metz. She repeatedly
threatened the French government and expressed her desire to wage jihad,
according to Républicain Lorrain. She was registered as a director of building company, Beko Construction,
in Epinay sur Seine, three miles from yesterday's raid. The company was
liquidated last year.
Her cousin Abaaoud was also killed in the raid, French prosecutors confirmed
today. One witness, known only as Christian, 20, said he heard a woman yelling 'Help
me!' after a 15 minute lull in the firefight. He told Le Parisien:
'The police asked her to identify herself, and to show herself. She held her
hands up but she didn't reveal her face. 'The police shouted at her: "Keep your hands in the air!" They told
her: "We're going to shoot."
'The police were firing from the roof of the building opposite. Suddenly there
was an enormous explosion. It was probably the woman who blew herself up.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said detailed forensic work was still going on to establish who the terrorists killed in the gun battle were.
President Francois Hollande has declare a State of Emergency in France, warning that further terrorist attacks are likely.
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