Abu Jalil al-Hanfai (died 26 July 2016), also known as Abdel Malek Petitjean, was a French Muslim member of the Islamic State who perpetrated the 2016 Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray church attack alongside Adel Kermiche.
Biography[]
Abu Jalil al-Hanfai was born in France to a Sunni Muslim family, and he became a radical Islamist and a supporter of the Islamic State. In 2016, he collaborated with Adel Kermiche to launch a terrorist attack against Catholics in France, and they appeared in a video showing the flag of the Islamic State and their claim of responsibility for their impending attack. On 26 July 2016, the two of them entered the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy during mass, equipped only with knives. They took four hostages and murdered the priest Jacques Hamel, slitting his throat and making him the latest Christian martyr of the 21st century. al-Hanfai and Kermiche were both killed when French police stormed the church, freeing the hostages and neutralizing the attackers. On 28 July 2016, he appeared in a video which called him "Abdel Malek Petitjean" in which he called for more attacks in France.