Families of US military personnel killed by ISIS prosecute Lafarge
QAMIHSLI, Syria (North Press) – Families of US soldiers who were killed during fighting Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq filed a lawsuit against French cement giant Lafarge after it was found guilty of involving in terrorist actions.
The lawsuit was filed by the families of Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan, Navy Senior Petty Officer Scott Cooper, and former Marine David Berry, who were killed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria between 2015 and 2017.
Lafarge, which is now part of the Switzerland-listed Holcim, admitted in a formal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary was paying armed groups to allow the continuation of its work in the country after 2011, but several charges against it were dismissed after an investigation by the French judiciary.
On June 21, 2016, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that in 2013 and 2014, Lafarge tried to operate its factory in Syria at any cost by financing armed groups including ISIS.
French media said that the group was suspected of selling cement from its factory in Syria to ISIS, and paid middlemen to obtain raw materials from extremist factions.
The families said, in the lawsuit, that the company prioritized its “economic self-interest” and supported ISIS that killed innocent civilians and US individuals.
The company 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 read.
In addition, the lawsuit included that the company knew that its support was paid to terrorist groups and it would be used “to commit acts of international terrorism.”