Ayoub El-Khazzani

France formally opens terrorism probe in train attack

Prosecutor Francois Molins said Tuesday the decision to open an investigation was based on the actions by 26-year-old Moroccan suspect Ayoub El-Khazzani on the train Friday night and information from other European authorities about his travels and apparent links to radical Islam.

Molins said El-Khazzani notably watched the online video on his phone minutes before he walked through the Amsterdam-to-Paris train carrying an assault rifle and other weapons.

3 Americans praised for subduing gunman on European train

This took place on a high-speed train who was known to intelligence services in three countries.

Counter-terrorism investigators on Saturday formally identified the man as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, the man investigators suspected early on was the gunman who targeted an Amsterdam to Paris train on Friday.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said earlier that Spanish authorities had notified French intelligence of the man in February 2014 because he belonged to the radical Islamist movement.