French Cement Company Lafarge Found Guilty of Financing Terrorism in Syria

A French court has found cement company Lafarge guilty of financing armed groups during the Syrian civil war.

Prosecutors confirmed that Lafarge paid millions of dollars to ISIL and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front between 2013 and 2014 to keep its factory operational in northern Syria.

The ruling was issued on April 13, 2026, by a Paris court.

The court found that Lafarge's payments were essential in enabling ISIL to control Syria's natural resources, which helped finance terrorist acts both within the region and abroad.

The court noted that Lafarge established a "genuine commercial partnership" with ISIL, and the payments were never disclosed, contributing to the severity of the offenses.

This conviction highlights corporate complicity in conflict zones.

This case follows a 2022 conviction in the United States where Lafarge pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated terrorist organizations and agreed to pay a $778 million fine.

Lafarge had completed a $680 million cement factory in Jalabiya, northern Syria, in 2010, just before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

The payments to armed groups occurred amid the conflict to maintain factory operations.

The court sentenced former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont to six years in prison for financing terrorism.

Christian Herrault, the former deputy managing director, received a five-year prison sentence.

The judge ordered Lafont to begin serving his sentence immediately.

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