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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Doug Bolton

Paris terror: These are the Muslim victims of the France attacks

Five Muslims were among the 129 people killed by terrorists in Paris on Friday night - one of them shot dead while celebrating her birthday in a local restaurant.

French authorities announced on Wednesday that all of those killed in Friday's attacks have now been identified, with the families of over 100 victims travelling to Paris to identify their loved ones.

Not all the victims have yet been named, but there are at least five Muslims among the dead.

Houda Saadi, who was of Tunisian descent, was celebrating her 35th birthday at the La Belle Equipe café where she worked in Paris' 11th arrondissement.

Celebrating with her was her sister,  Halima, and her brothers, Khaled and Abdallah.

When a gunman arrived and started spraying the café with bullets, Halima was killed instantly, with Houda dying from her injuries later. Both brothers survived.

Another victim at La Belle Equipe was Djamila Houd, a 41-year-old receptionist. According to her sister Tassadit, who was quoted in l'Echo Republicain, her freedom and personality made her "a symbol these fanatics want to destroy." She is survived by an eight-month-old daughter.

Djamila Houd, 41, was killed at La Belle Equipe

At around the same time, Kherieddine Sahbi, an Algerian who had come to Paris to study ethnomusicology, was killed as he walked home.

A talented violinist, he was a student at Paris' prestigious Sorbonne university.

Asta Diakité was another Muslim who was killed over the course of Friday night.


She was the cousin of Lassana Diarra - a professional footballer for the French national team, who played both in the France-Germany match that was interrupted by the bombing near the Stade de France, and in the emotional England-France game at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night.

Asta Diakité's cousin went on to play football for France against England three days after he death

Writing on Facebook, Diarra said of his cousin: "She was my rock, my supporter, my older sister."

Also killed was Mohamed Amine Benmbarek - a Moroccan architect, who designed buildings an taught at the Paris-Malaquais architecture school.

He was shot while sitting on the terrace of Le Carillon café with his wife, who survived the attack.

As they did after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, many French Muslims have grown worried about the possibility of anti-Muslim reprisals in the wake of the latest killings.

Many others have publicly denounced the attacks, just like all other French people - a group called the Muslim Students of France created a powerful video addressing the attacks, quoting a passage from the Quran, "Whosoever takes one life, it is as though he has killed all of humanity."

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