Leaving for Syria at 13, Younes had become a hardened jihadist. Presumed dead, he is currently on trial in absentia.
When, in January 2014, Younes Abaaoud left Molenbeek to follow his brother, Abdel Hamid, on the paths of jihad in Syria, he was barely bigger than the Kalashnikov that he would proudly carry a few weeks later.
He was only 13 and a half years old. His older brother was a stranger. Back in Belgium following a first stay in Syria, Abdel Hamid Abaaoud had kidnapped his little brother following school. The father had informed the police. It was too late.
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