Paris Bomber Sneaked in With Refugees, Officials Say
— -- The route from Turkey across the Mediterranean and into Europe has been a perilous one for thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria, but European authorities say one terrorist hidden among the innocents on a packed Greece-bound boat in early October was determined to bring the bloodshed with him -- all the way to Paris.
A slideshow presentation created by the Greek government says the man, who was identified as Ahmad Almohammad on identification documents but could have used an alias, was recorded coming into the Greek island of Leros on Oct. 3. He arrived on a boat with 197 other people from Turkey.
He had his photo taken and was fingerprinted, in accordance with Greek immigration policy, and shipped to mainland Greece. European officials say from there the man calling himself Almohammad made his way through Serbia on Oct. 7 and then Croatia on Oct. 8. From there he went on through Hungary and Austria, according to European officials.
From there, however, the trail goes cold. The slideshow presentation shows the possible routes the man could’ve taken to his final destination, but in various possible border crossings, it notes that his transit was not recorded.
Just over a month later, French and Greek authorities say, the man emerges outside a crowded soccer stadium in Paris where he, after reportedly having been denied entry by security guards, detonated the suicide vest, killing himself and a bystander. His Syrian passport somehow survived the explosion, giving police one of their first clues in what would become one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history.
According to French police officials, his bombing was the first in a string of shootings and bombings that would claim more than 120 lives in Paris that night, and injure more than 350 others.
Early Saturday the Syria-based terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was the first in a coming “storm.”
