Ten years after the attacks of January 2015, the services responsible for the fight against terrorism have changed their practices

Lhe attacks of January 2015 came as a semi-surprise for the intelligence and justice services responsible for the fight against terrorism. As Bernard Bajolet, director of foreign intelligence (DGSE) at the time, summarizes: “It was a shock for us, but for several months we had been expecting terrorist attacks in France. Particularly because of what was happening in Syria and Iraq, even if the attack against Charlie is not linked to the Syrian-Iraqi context. » Indeed, the main surprise of this attack lies in the affiliation of its perpetrators, the Kouachi brothers. They deliver it during their flight, in the 19^e district of Paris, by seizing under threat the vehicle of a motorist to whom they released: “We are with Al-Qaeda in Yemen. »

“At the time, we did not know of Peter Cherif’s involvement”explains the former head of the DGSE, speaking of this member of the Buttes-Chaumont network, sentenced in October 2024 to life imprisonment for his membership in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and his role in the attack on Charlie. Bernard Bajolet would then not have failed to remember crossing his path when he was ambassador to Iraq (2004-2006). Another macabre thread connects the senior official to the attack against Charlie Hebdo. Cartoonist Charb's bodyguard, police officer Franck Brinsolaro, was his security officer when Bernard Bajolet narrowly escaped a Taliban assassination attempt, east of Kabul, in June 2011. He was shot dead before to be able to defend yourself.

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