France prison van attack – live: International arrest warrant issued for The Fly in ‘unprecedented’ manhunt

Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for the escaped French prisoner nicknamed ‘The Fly’ at the request of France’s authorities.

The intergovernmental organisation said in a statement on X on Wednesday that a ‘Red Notice’ search warrant has been issued for fugitive Mohamed Amra.

Hundreds of police fanned out across northern France on a massive manhunt for the on-the-run inmate on Wednesday, a day after he was sprung from a prison van by gunmen in an attack that killed two prison guards.

Earlier today, the French prime minister Gabriel Attal warned the perpetrators that they will be caught.

“I say it again to the perpetrators: we are tracking you, we will find you and we will punish you,” the he told the Assembly.

The town hall of Chagny-le-Château has opened a fund to help the family finance the funeral of the prison officer, who was killed in the attack.

While they have not been named, one has been identified as a father-of-two, while the second officer’s wife is five months pregnant.

An international arrest warrant has been issued as the manhunt for escaped inmate ‘The Fly’ continues, with France’s prime minister vowing the fugitive “will pay”.

Interpol issued a Red Notice for fugitive Mohamed Amra on the second day of the hunt at the request of the French authorities.

The suspected drug boss, nicknamed ‘La Mouche’, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux on Tuesday when his prisonvan was ambushed by four armed attackers who left a bloodbath in their wake.

Read the full article here:

A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.

Mohamed Amra, 30, has a long and violent criminal history that has now culminated in a high-profile search.

Known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), Amra has also been referred to by other aliases such as “Yanis,” “Momo,” and “Schtroumpf” (Smurf). According to Frenchmedia, these nicknames reflect his elusive nature and extensive activities.

Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as “The Fly” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three.

Here’s what we know about Amra:

• The 30-year-old was born in the northern French city of Rouen and has a formidable rap sheet, with 13 convictions, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday. His first conviction came in 2009, when he was just 15.

Beccuau said most of his convictions had been handed down by courts in northern France, but he had also served time in jails in Paris and Marseille. She said many of his convictions were for burglary.

“To date, his criminal record does not mention any conviction for drug violations,” she said.

• Police sources told Reuters Amra was a mid-level player in France’s drug trade, with links to Marseille’s powerful “Blacks” gang. The Paris prosecutor’s office said he had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille, the epicentre of France’s drug trade, for gangland murder.

The Interpol Red Notice said he was suspected of the “acquisition, detention, transportation, offering or disposal of narcotics”.

Amra was convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on 10 May and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison. A few days before his escape, he had tried to saw his way out of his cell, officials said.

• On Tuesday morning, Amra was on his way to a meeting with an investigating judge when his two-vehicle convoy approached a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France.

At 10.57am, a Peugeot car that had been stolen a few days earlier rammed into the front of one of the prison vans, Beccuau said. Armed men got out of the Peugeot and were joined by another crew who got out of an Audi, before they opened fire on the two vans. Two officers were killed and three critically wounded. The assailants then sped off with Amra.

Two burned out vehicles that were found nearby are now undergoing forensic examination, Beccuau said.

Tuesday’s attack came on the same day that France’s Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faced a “tipping point” from rising violence.

The report recommended the creation of a French version of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat a powerful national drug trade with annual turnover of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

Prison workers held moments of silence Wednesday outside jails in Paris and elsewhere to commemorate the officers who were gunned down in France on Tuesday.

The violence of the attack has shocked the nation.

The French interior minister has expressed hope that Mohamed Amra could be caught “in the coming days”.

Without giving full details about the extent of the manhunt, Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio: “The means employed are considerable. We are progressing a lot.”

Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for the escaped French prisoner nicknamed ‘The Fly’ at the request of France’s authorities.

The intergovernmental organisation said in a statement on X on Wednesday that a ‘Red Notice’ search warrant has been issued for fugitive Mohamed Amra.

Hundreds of police fanned out across northern France on a massive manhunt for the on-the-run inmate on Wednesday, a day after he was sprung from a prison van by gunmen in an attack that killed two prison guards.

Earlier today, the French prime minister Gabriel Attal warned the perpetrators that they will be caught.

“I say it again to the perpetrators: we are tracking you, we will find you and we will punish you,” the he told the Assembly.

The town hall of Chagny-le-Château has opened a fund to help the family finance the funeral of the prison officer, who was killed in the attack.

While they have not been named, one has been identified as a father-of-two, while the second officer’s wife is five months pregnant.

An international arrest warrant has been issued as the manhunt for escaped inmate ‘The Fly’ continues, with France’s prime minister vowing the fugitive “will pay”.

Interpol issued a Red Notice for fugitive Mohamed Amra on the second day of the hunt at the request of the French authorities.

The suspected drug boss, nicknamed ‘La Mouche’, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux on Tuesday when his prisonvan was ambushed by four armed attackers who left a bloodbath in their wake.

Read the full article here:

A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.

Mohamed Amra, 30, has a long and violent criminal history that has now culminated in a high-profile search.

Known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), Amra has also been referred to by other aliases such as “Yanis,” “Momo,” and “Schtroumpf” (Smurf). According to Frenchmedia, these nicknames reflect his elusive nature and extensive activities.

Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as “The Fly” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three.

Here’s what we know about Amra:

• The 30-year-old was born in the northern French city of Rouen and has a formidable rap sheet, with 13 convictions, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday. His first conviction came in 2009, when he was just 15.

Beccuau said most of his convictions had been handed down by courts in northern France, but he had also served time in jails in Paris and Marseille. She said many of his convictions were for burglary.

“To date, his criminal record does not mention any conviction for drug violations,” she said.

• Police sources told Reuters Amra was a mid-level player in France’s drug trade, with links to Marseille’s powerful “Blacks” gang. The Paris prosecutor’s office said he had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille, the epicentre of France’s drug trade, for gangland murder.

The Interpol Red Notice said he was suspected of the “acquisition, detention, transportation, offering or disposal of narcotics”.

Amra was convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on 10 May and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison. A few days before his escape, he had tried to saw his way out of his cell, officials said.

• On Tuesday morning, Amra was on his way to a meeting with an investigating judge when his two-vehicle convoy approached a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France.

At 10.57am, a Peugeot car that had been stolen a few days earlier rammed into the front of one of the prison vans, Beccuau said. Armed men got out of the Peugeot and were joined by another crew who got out of an Audi, before they opened fire on the two vans. Two officers were killed and three critically wounded. The assailants then sped off with Amra.

Two burned out vehicles that were found nearby are now undergoing forensic examination, Beccuau said.

Tuesday’s attack came on the same day that France’s Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faced a “tipping point” from rising violence.

The report recommended the creation of a French version of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat a powerful national drug trade with annual turnover of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

Prison workers held moments of silence Wednesday outside jails in Paris and elsewhere to commemorate the officers who were gunned down in France on Tuesday.

The violence of the attack has shocked the nation.

The French interior minister has expressed hope that Mohamed Amra could be caught “in the coming days”.

Without giving full details about the extent of the manhunt, Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio: “The means employed are considerable. We are progressing a lot.”

Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for the escaped French prisoner nicknamed ‘The Fly’ at the request of France’s authorities.

The intergovernmental organisation said in a statement on X on Wednesday that a ‘Red Notice’ search warrant has been issued for fugitive Mohamed Amra.

Hundreds of police fanned out across northern France on a massive manhunt for the on-the-run inmate on Wednesday, a day after he was sprung from a prison van by gunmen in an attack that killed two prison guards.

Earlier today, the French prime minister Gabriel Attal warned the perpetrators that they will be caught.

“I say it again to the perpetrators: we are tracking you, we will find you and we will punish you,” the he told the Assembly.

The town hall of Chagny-le-Château has opened a fund to help the family finance the funeral of the prison officer, who was killed in the attack.

While they have not been named, one has been identified as a father-of-two, while the second officer’s wife is five months pregnant.

An international arrest warrant has been issued as the manhunt for escaped inmate ‘The Fly’ continues, with France’s prime minister vowing the fugitive “will pay”.

Interpol issued a Red Notice for fugitive Mohamed Amra on the second day of the hunt at the request of the French authorities.

The suspected drug boss, nicknamed ‘La Mouche’, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux on Tuesday when his prisonvan was ambushed by four armed attackers who left a bloodbath in their wake.

Read the full article here:

A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.

Mohamed Amra, 30, has a long and violent criminal history that has now culminated in a high-profile search.

Known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), Amra has also been referred to by other aliases such as “Yanis,” “Momo,” and “Schtroumpf” (Smurf). According to Frenchmedia, these nicknames reflect his elusive nature and extensive activities.

Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as “The Fly” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three.

Here’s what we know about Amra:

• The 30-year-old was born in the northern French city of Rouen and has a formidable rap sheet, with 13 convictions, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday. His first conviction came in 2009, when he was just 15.

Beccuau said most of his convictions had been handed down by courts in northern France, but he had also served time in jails in Paris and Marseille. She said many of his convictions were for burglary.

“To date, his criminal record does not mention any conviction for drug violations,” she said.

• Police sources told Reuters Amra was a mid-level player in France’s drug trade, with links to Marseille’s powerful “Blacks” gang. The Paris prosecutor’s office said he had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille, the epicentre of France’s drug trade, for gangland murder.

The Interpol Red Notice said he was suspected of the “acquisition, detention, transportation, offering or disposal of narcotics”.

Amra was convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on 10 May and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison. A few days before his escape, he had tried to saw his way out of his cell, officials said.

• On Tuesday morning, Amra was on his way to a meeting with an investigating judge when his two-vehicle convoy approached a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France.

At 10.57am, a Peugeot car that had been stolen a few days earlier rammed into the front of one of the prison vans, Beccuau said. Armed men got out of the Peugeot and were joined by another crew who got out of an Audi, before they opened fire on the two vans. Two officers were killed and three critically wounded. The assailants then sped off with Amra.

Two burned out vehicles that were found nearby are now undergoing forensic examination, Beccuau said.

Tuesday’s attack came on the same day that France’s Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faced a “tipping point” from rising violence.

The report recommended the creation of a French version of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat a powerful national drug trade with annual turnover of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

Prison workers held moments of silence Wednesday outside jails in Paris and elsewhere to commemorate the officers who were gunned down in France on Tuesday.

The violence of the attack has shocked the nation.

The French interior minister has expressed hope that Mohamed Amra could be caught “in the coming days”.

Without giving full details about the extent of the manhunt, Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio: “The means employed are considerable. We are progressing a lot.”

Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for the escaped French prisoner nicknamed ‘The Fly’ at the request of France’s authorities.

The intergovernmental organisation said in a statement on X on Wednesday that a ‘Red Notice’ search warrant has been issued for fugitive Mohamed Amra.

Hundreds of police fanned out across northern France on a massive manhunt for the on-the-run inmate on Wednesday, a day after he was sprung from a prison van by gunmen in an attack that killed two prison guards.

Earlier today, the French prime minister Gabriel Attal warned the perpetrators that they will be caught.

“I say it again to the perpetrators: we are tracking you, we will find you and we will punish you,” the he told the Assembly.

The town hall of Chagny-le-Château has opened a fund to help the family finance the funeral of the prison officer, who was killed in the attack.

While they have not been named, one has been identified as a father-of-two, while the second officer’s wife is five months pregnant.

An international arrest warrant has been issued as the manhunt for escaped inmate ‘The Fly’ continues, with France’s prime minister vowing the fugitive “will pay”.

Interpol issued a Red Notice for fugitive Mohamed Amra on the second day of the hunt at the request of the French authorities.

The suspected drug boss, nicknamed ‘La Mouche’, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux on Tuesday when his prisonvan was ambushed by four armed attackers who left a bloodbath in their wake.

Read the full article here:

A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.

Mohamed Amra, 30, has a long and violent criminal history that has now culminated in a high-profile search.

Known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), Amra has also been referred to by other aliases such as “Yanis,” “Momo,” and “Schtroumpf” (Smurf). According to Frenchmedia, these nicknames reflect his elusive nature and extensive activities.

Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as “The Fly” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three.

Here’s what we know about Amra:

• The 30-year-old was born in the northern French city of Rouen and has a formidable rap sheet, with 13 convictions, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday. His first conviction came in 2009, when he was just 15.

Beccuau said most of his convictions had been handed down by courts in northern France, but he had also served time in jails in Paris and Marseille. She said many of his convictions were for burglary.

“To date, his criminal record does not mention any conviction for drug violations,” she said.

• Police sources told Reuters Amra was a mid-level player in France’s drug trade, with links to Marseille’s powerful “Blacks” gang. The Paris prosecutor’s office said he had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille, the epicentre of France’s drug trade, for gangland murder.

The Interpol Red Notice said he was suspected of the “acquisition, detention, transportation, offering or disposal of narcotics”.

Amra was convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on 10 May and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison. A few days before his escape, he had tried to saw his way out of his cell, officials said.

• On Tuesday morning, Amra was on his way to a meeting with an investigating judge when his two-vehicle convoy approached a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France.

At 10.57am, a Peugeot car that had been stolen a few days earlier rammed into the front of one of the prison vans, Beccuau said. Armed men got out of the Peugeot and were joined by another crew who got out of an Audi, before they opened fire on the two vans. Two officers were killed and three critically wounded. The assailants then sped off with Amra.

Two burned out vehicles that were found nearby are now undergoing forensic examination, Beccuau said.

Tuesday’s attack came on the same day that France’s Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faced a “tipping point” from rising violence.

The report recommended the creation of a French version of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat a powerful national drug trade with annual turnover of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

Prison workers held moments of silence Wednesday outside jails in Paris and elsewhere to commemorate the officers who were gunned down in France on Tuesday.

The violence of the attack has shocked the nation.

The French interior minister has expressed hope that Mohamed Amra could be caught “in the coming days”.

Without giving full details about the extent of the manhunt, Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio: “The means employed are considerable. We are progressing a lot.”