Khamzat Azimov, who kept his beard short over a youthful face, was not considered a major threat despite being on France’s two watchlists for suspected extremists since 2016.
“It was his relatives who alerted the security services, as opposed to his behaviour, actions or ideas” which might have drawn scrutiny, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.
Yet on Saturday night the 20-year-old described by neighbours as a quiet student spread terror throughout a bustling area of restaurants and theatres just a short stroll from the historic Paris opera house.
Former classmates from his Strasbourg high school described Azimov as a religious and “very discreet” student who liked video games and sports.
The eastern French town where he grew up is home to a large community of refugees from Chechnya who fled the Muslim-dominated Russian republic during two bloody separatist wars against Moscow-backed forces.
One ex-pupil told AFP: “Khamzat was quite calm, he kept himself to himself, he didn’t have a problem… He did Ramadan, he paid attention to girls.”
The man who declined to be identified added that Azimov “had a distinctive manner and was in contact with Syria where he wanted to go. But after the bac (exams) he left all that, he wanted to make a living.”
Another former pupil described a “normal student, not excellent but not bad either”.
“We knew he was Muslim but he did not show it,” the young woman added, saying he never talked about his birthplace Chechnya or the wars there.
– Family fled Chechnya –
Investigators have taken Azimov’s parents into custody…
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