History
On 13 May 1993, a disturbed man named Eric Schmitt, calling himself "HB" (for "Human Bomb", in English), and carrying large quantities of explosives, took 21 children hostage in a school in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Nicolas Sarkozy, mayor of Neuilly at the time, managed to obtain the liberation of several children. He was later put aside of the negotiation process, as he was not a professional negotiator and thus risked interfering with the police forces. After 46 hours, with the hostage-taker falling asleep, members of RAID crept into the school to evacuate the 6 remaining children. Schmitt was shot dead by 3 bullets to the head as he tried to reach the explosives. All the children were safe, as well as their teacher and a nurse.
RAID also arrested members of Action Directe in a more anti-terrorist action.
In 1996, in Roubaix, the unit neutralized a 14-terrorists group tied to the GIA, suspected of several bloody bank robberies, murders and a missed attack against a G7 meeting in Lille. The assault was very violent and resulted in the death of 4 terrorists. 2 RAID operatives were also injured, one by a grenade blast, the other one hit by a bullet in a lung. Christophe Caze, the head of the group, escaped the building in flame but was killed at a Belgium checkpoint during a gunfight with Customs agents. Several days later, thanks to an electronic device found on Caze's body, Fateh Kamel, head of a terrorist cell in Montreal was arrested in Jordan and tried in France.
Recently, RAID operators saw action during the 2005 and 2006 riots in France, as well as in a hostage situation in Versailles, where an armed man was shot dead by RAID operators after coming under attack.
On March 21 and 22 2012, RAID was in charge to arrest Mohammed Merah, the main suspect of the shooting sprees in Toulouse and Montauban. RAID surrounded the house where Morah was entrenched. After 30 hours of siege, the RAID stormed the house to apprehend Morah who fought back. After a 4 minutes of heavy gunfight, Merah was shot down by a RAID sniper while exiting the building.
RAID is in charge of the protection of foreign dignitaries traveling in France. During special events, the RAID is also in charge of protecting French individuals abroad (For example, the French Delegation during the Olympic Games is under RAID protection during the whole event). Three of its members have died in service.
Read more about this topic: Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion
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