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

In a Stockholm suburb, an 18-year-old named Atilla Azimov killed a man named Murad Abdelkader while on his way home from work. Azimov had been hired by the Foxtrot Network, an organized crime group with ties to the Iranian regime, for his violent services. This group has been responsible for around 35 murders and various attacks in Europe since 2022, often recruiting teenagers for these killings.

The Foxtrot Network utilizes a "gamified" approach to recruit and instruct their teenage hitmen, similar to how video games are structured. Europol's Task Force GRIMM has identified 11 countries affected by this violence-as-a-service (VaaS) trend, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The leader of Foxtrot, Rawa Majid, has fled Sweden and is currently in Tehran, Iran.

According to investigative journalist Diamant Salihu, the Iranian regime has ordered Majid to carry out attacks against enemies of the regime, including Iranian dissidents, journalists, and Israeli targets. Majid fled to Tehran in October 2023 and subsequently formed a deal with the regime, working for them in exchange for living freely in Iran.

The Foxtrot Network and Majid received sanctions from the UK government in April 2025, following the arrest of a 18-year-old named Johannes Natland, who was recruited to carry out a hit in West Yorkshire. Natland's case illustrates the workings of the VaaS system. He was inspired by online requests from other teenagers, including Generalen, a 16-year-old from a children's home, who initially posted the job offer.

Generalen then recruited Natland for the hit, passing him on to a Foxtrot member known as Agent 47, who helped Natland navigate the process and obtain necessary materials for the murder.