Knifeman who stabbed kids in playground was member of Assad militia
The knifeman who brutally stabbed children in a playground in France was a member of Syria's Assad militia, it has been reported.
Abdelmasih Hanoun, who prosecutors referred to as Abdelmasih H, attacked four young children and two adults from multiple countries in a usually family-friendly bucolic park in Annecy, in the French Alps, on Thursday.
French newspaper Le Monde has revealed that the 32-year-old served in warmonger Bashar al-Assad's military from June 2011 to December 2012.
He later escaped to Turkey and then to Sweden in 2013, accompanied by his wife.
But Swedish authorities refused his asylum application on the grounds that he had "served in the Syrian army".
Mourners gather at purple-themed vigil to remember girl, 15, stabbed to death
Abdelmasih H. attacked four young children and two adults
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (AFP/Getty Images)The conflict in Syria turned from an insurgency to a full-blown civil war during the summer of 2012 with Assad's regime torturing and killing thousands.
According to a ruling by the Swedish National Immigration Office, seen by Le Monde, Abdelmasih applied for asylum and stated that he served as a "sergeant" in the Assad regime and worked as a "guard" in other affiliated militias.
He claimed that he had been stationed in various towns, where he had made arrests and had taken part in battles.
Later, Abdelmasih claimed he had been "forced" to join the Syrian army and that he wanted "to escape as quickly as possible so as not to have to die or find himself in a place where [he] would have to hurt someone."
He appealed the decision and submitted a new application in August 2022, but received no response. He then left Sweden for France, via Switzerland and Italy, in October.
Flowers and tributes to the victims are seen at the children's playground (JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Abdelmasih wore a cross and carried two Christian images with him at the time of the attack, the prosecutor said.
She also said he refused to talk to investigators and was examined by a psychiatrist and other doctors who deemed him fit to face charges.
She said that the motive remained unclear, but it didn’t appear to be terrorism-related.
Horrifying footage captured a brave woman leaping in front of a pushchair in a bid to protect a child as the bearded knifeman lunged at the innocent baby.
He then repeatedly stabbed the tot strapped in the pram.
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The child victims were two French two-year-old cousins, a boy and a girl, who were in the playground with their grandmother when the assailant appeared; a British three-year-old girl visiting Annecy with her parents; and a 22-month-old Dutch girl, according to the prosecutor.
A woman desperately tries to defend her child as the rampaging knifeman attackedThe seriously injured adult, a Portuguese man, was wounded trying to stop the attacker from fleeing police. Portugal’s foreign ministry said he is “now out of danger.”
The second injured adult was discharged from a hospital, his left elbow bandaged.
Abdelmasih's ex-wife told local media that they have a daughter the same age as the British girl.
His unnamed former lover said: "My God. He is very nice. I don’t understand. We met in Turkey, we fell in love and we came here [to Sweden].
"We married after two years but he didn’t manage to obtain Swedish nationality so he decided to leave the country. We separated because I didn’t want to leave Sweden."
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