Young guns for hire - the teenage hitmen recruited to kill across Europe

ByDaniel Sandford

UK correspondent

In a Stockholm suburb a antheral dressed successful achromatic appeared retired of the wintertime night. Carrying a handgun, helium approached 20-year-old Murad Abdelkader, a pupil connected his mode backmost from a displacement astatine McDonald's.

The gunman opened fire, shooting again and again arsenic helium approached his target. He fired the past changeable into his victim's caput arsenic helium laic helpless connected the ground.

The slayer was 18-year-old Atilla Azimov. On that February nighttime past year, helium had killed the incorrect man.

He had done it for wealth - hired by the Foxtrot Network, an organised transgression radical with links to the Iranian authorities which has go notorious for its violence-as-a-service (VaaS) tactics.

Since 2022, the Foxtrot Network is thought to person been liable for astir 35 murders arsenic good arsenic a fig of attacks and attempted attacks connected Israeli targets successful Europe including 2 involving explosives and manus grenades.

The pack recruits teenagers to transportation retired the attacks for cash, but it astir ne'er has to wage retired arsenic they often get caught.

Like Johannes Natland, a Norwegian teen who was convicted of conspiracy to murder by a assemblage astatine the Old Bailey successful London connected Wednesday for a planned sidesplitting successful West Yorkshire.

According to Operational Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM, the Europol radical acceptable up to tackle the problem, the teenage hitmen are recruited connected societal media, and are fixed their instructions successful a "gamified" way, imitating however machine games work.

Andy Kraag, the caput of Europol's European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, calls it the "calculated outsourcing of murder" to susceptible young people.

OTF GRIMM presently involves 11 countries affected by the VaaS improvement - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The person of the Foxtrot Network, Rawa Majid, has fled Sweden and his aboriginal operating basal successful Turkey, and is present based successful the Iranian superior Tehran. Police judge immoderate of the VaaS attacks person been carried retired for the Iranian regime, including a manus grenade onslaught connected the Israeli embassy successful Copenhagen, though different attacks are portion of Foxtrot's drugs turf wars.

Diamant Salihu, an investigative writer for the Swedish broadcaster SVT, has been researching Foxtrot and its Iranian links for 3 years.

"The authorities is ordering the person of the Foxtrot Network to instigate his web to perpetrate attacks against the Iranian regime's enemies," helium said.

"It tin beryllium dissidents, journalists that are successful the absorption against the regime, and it tin besides beryllium Israeli targets."

The links to the Iranian authorities started aft October 2023 erstwhile Majid fled to Tehran, Salihu said.

"He had to marque a woody to beryllium capable to unrecorded freely successful Iran, nether information that helium and his web enactment for the regime."

The Foxtrot Network and Majid were sanctioned by the UK government, external successful April 2025.

That was the period aft the apprehension of Natland, who was 18 astatine the time. He had flown successful to transportation retired a deed connected behalf of Foxtrot determination adjacent Huddersfield.

The Natland lawsuit illustrates however the VaaS strategy works.

Natland is the lad of 2 journalists successful Stavanger and had a comfy upbringing, but helium drifted into drugs and developed psychosis, ending up spending clip successful rehab and a abbreviated play successful a children's home. There helium met different teen who utilized the online grip UnknownHustler.

It was UnknownHustler who archetypal sent Natland the online petition for idiosyncratic to transportation retired a deed successful the UK - "Killing successful England 270k" (270,000 Norwegian kroner is astir £21,000). It had travel from different teen with the grip Generalen. Generalen - who was 16 astatine the clip and had spent the past 3 years surviving successful a children's location - subsequently recruited Natland for the hit.

Natland was past passed connected to a Foxtrot subordinate with the online username Agent 47, which is borrowed from the Hitman crippled franchise. Swedish constabulary person accused Ali Shehad Ahmed, who is adjacent to the Foxtrot person Majid, of being Agent 47.

Agent 47 booked Natland's 1 mode summons to Manchester Airport, and helped him done the process of getting an exigency passport. Using the messaging app Signal, helium guided Natland astatine each signifier of his travel earlier handing him connected to a logistics antheral with the username "1".

Treating Natland a spot similar a quality successful a machine game, "1" sent him a representation and videos showing him wherever to find the guns hidden successful woodland successful Huddersfield, and past different video showing him however to entree a stash of currency hidden successful the undergrowth adjacent a ft tunnel.

Once Natland was installed successful his Huddersfield edifice with the weapons, Agent 47 messaged him again: "We person overmuch to bash tomorrow."

Natland was arrested the adjacent morning. He had not yet been told who helium was to kill, and counterterrorism detectives are inactive trying to enactment retired whether it was to beryllium a transgression deed oregon a governmental 1 carried retired for Iran.

The teen who recruited Natland - Generalen - was prolific. As good arsenic hiring Natland arsenic a hitman helium had besides recruited astatine slightest 2 radical who carried retired murders successful Sweden. They were Azimov, who is serving a beingness condemnation for sidesplitting the incorrect man, and a 17-year-old who changeable dormant Ahmed Zamzam successful Lund, southbound Sweden, 3 and a fractional weeks earlier.

Neither of the killers got paid, due to the fact that they were some caught. Salihu said this was portion of however Foxtrot worked.

"They don't attraction astatine each if the teenagers get caught. Because erstwhile they get caught, they cannot inquire for wealth that they person been offered, and we spot nary examples of wealth being paid to these young killers," helium said.

"It has been a deliberate argumentation to enlistee younger and younger teenagers due to the fact that they don't deliberation astir the consequences of getting caught, and they are much consenting to instrumentality the risks."

Generalen was yet stopped due to the fact that helium was trying to put the execution of the 14-year-old lad of a Norwegian constabulary officer. He recruited a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old to transportation retired the weapon attack, but the 15-year-old told the police. When Generalen was arrested detectives recovered details of the Huddersfield execution crippled connected his telephone that led to British constabulary arresting Natland conscionable successful time.

Generalen was convicted successful May and is serving a 14-year-prison sentence.

OTF GRIMM has had immoderate successes successful the 15 months since it was acceptable up. Police person made much than 280 arrests including a fewer cardinal suspects.

One of the astir important arrests was that of Ahmed, who is thought to beryllium Agent 47.

He was detained successful the Kurdish metropolis of Sulaymaniyah successful Iraq, and is presently taxable to an extradition petition to Sweden.

The Swedish lawman nationalist constabulary commissioner Stefan Hector said they were "constantly expanding our co-operation with different countries" and showing organised criminals "they cannot consciousness harmless anyplace successful the world".

In May, Mohamed "Moewgli" Mohdhi, a erstwhile rapper described by Swedish constabulary arsenic a "central actor" successful Foxtrot, was arrested successful Tunisia.

But Majid himself remains retired of scope successful Iran.

"He's inactive active," Salihu said. "And arsenic agelong arsenic this web is progressive we volition inactive continue, I fear, to spot attacks connected the enemies of the Iranian regime."

It is not yet wide the grade to which the arrests person degraded Foxtrot's quality to operate, but different groups - including Foxtrot's rivals the Dalen Network - person already adopted the VaaS method of recruiting susceptible teenagers for murders, truthful the information is inactive precise present.

It dispersed rapidly from Sweden crossed Scandinavia and bluish Europe and, arsenic the Natland lawsuit shows, reached the UK past year.