The scrapbook is filled with photographs and tributes: they show Dominique Bons' son Nicolas growing from a teenager into a young man. Offering brief glimpses of past holidays and family moments, clues to his passions and personality, the book is one of Bons' few souvenirs of her son's short life. Nicolas, from Toulouse, converted to Islam four years ago, gradually becoming more and more devout. Bons, who is a former French soldier, says Nicolas had never spoken to her about wanting to join a religious war, but last year the 30-year-old announced he and his half-brother were going on vacation together.
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France says some 950 French nationals are involved in jihad
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Experts say there are many reasons why they choose to travel to Syria and Iraq to fight
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Nicolas Bons, 30, was killed in "an explosives operation" in Syria; his half-brother also died
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His mother wants others to be aware of the dangers posed by Islamist extremists
Because no body has been recovered, there is also no death certificate, meaning that --officially at least, in @placeholder -- Nicolas is still alive.