Families of US soldiers killed by Daesh/ISIS sue French firm Lafarge over terror support

ISTANBUL

Families of US soldiers who were killed by the Daesh/ISIS terror group sued French cement giant Lafarge, which had earlier pleaded guilty for supporting terrorists in Syria, reported local media, citing lawsuit documents.

In October, Lafarge was slapped with a fine of $778 million by a US court for supporting several terror groups in Syria in 2013-2014, including Daesh/ISIS.

Lafarge’s “economic self-interest” enabled the terrorist group to kill innocent civilians, including Americans, according to the lawsuit brought by the families of three US military personnel killed by Daesh/ISIS, reported abcnews.

“Defendants’ payments to and business partnership with ISIS provided ISIS the seed capital it needed to transform from a fledgling militia in the early 2010s into a brutal terroristic behemoth with the capability and intent to kill Americans,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said Lafarge “aided and abetted” Daesh/ISIS and the Al Nusra Front’s acts of international terrorism by knowingly providing substantial assistance, and by failing to safely close and evacuate the cement plant, thereby placing “tons of valuable cement and raw materials” in the hands of the two terror groups.

“Defendants knew that this material support was paid to foreign terrorist organizations and would be used to commit acts of international terrorism,” it added.

In the lawsuit, the family of Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan of California, who was killed in 2016 by an IED planted by Daesh/ISIS in Iraq, expressed their suffering following their loss.

The widow and children of Navy Senior Petty Officer Scott Cooper Dayton, also killed in Syria by a mine laid by Daesh/ISIS in 2016, were also among the plaintiffs.

Former Marine David Berry was also killed by Daesh/ISIS in a 2015 attack in Libya. At the time, Berry was working for a private contractor.

Lafarge said the company and its defunct subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria “accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved.”

Lafarge opened a €680 million ($670 million) cement plant in the Jalabiyeh region of northern Syria in 2010.

From 2013 to 2014, the company reportedly paid terrorist groups around $5.9 million.​​​​​​​15 months has passed since Anadolu Agency obtained documents revealing that France’s intelligence agencies were fully aware of ties between the Daesh/ISIS terror group and French cement giant Lafarge.

Ahead of a decision by a French court on Sept. 7 last year, which paved the way for Lafarge to be indicted for “complicity in crimes against humanity” in Syria, Anadolu Agency published the documents belonging to the French intelligence.