The Saint-Denis police operation is the most dramatic among wave upon wave of raids across France in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.
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The 28-year-old was thought to have been in Syria – where he had boasted of planning attacks on the West – and his presence in France will renew debate about Europe’s border controls and monitoring of fighters returning from Syria.
Whatever label you ascribe to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, put it in the past tense. Because he won’t inflict terror any longer. Authorities believe that Abaaoud was close to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. A few residents in Saint-Denis told CNN that they had seen Abaaoud recently in the neighborhood and at a local mosque.
It turns out Abaaoud was in that building in Saint-Denis.
Abaaoud died in a French police raid on Wednesday. A police dog was also killed. His suicide-bomber brother Brahim Abdeslam blew himself up at a cafe without killing anyone.
It translates to: “Abdel Hamid Abaaoud has just been formally identified, after comparing fingerprints, as having been killed during the [police] raid. Things are not moving fast enough”, Cazeneuve said.
The location of Abaaoud’s death will not reflect well on either the French or the Belgium security services, who had previously stated he was in Syria or Isis-controlled territories.
Also on Thursday, Belgian authorities launched at least six anti-terror raids in relation to the Paris attacks and suicide bomber Bilal Hadfi, CNN reported.
Abaaoud is said to have organised the gun and bomb attacks in Paris. “There were many people who didn’t take it seriously, but effectively it was confirmed”.
Still, while many were sought after last week’s bloodshed, Abaaoud had been the top priority.
Western intelligence agencies reportedly tried to target Abaaoud in the months prior to the Paris attacks, without success.
129 people were killed in Friday’s attacks, another 350 people were wounded.
“He’s waiting to know if Salah is dead or still on the run”, she said.
Authorities are trying to determine whom the message was sent to, he said.
Speaking after the seven-hour siege in Saint-Denis, Hollande said that France was “at war” with the Islamic State group.
In the days since the second major terror attack in Paris this year, French authorities have conducted 414 raids, made 60 arrests and seized 75 weapons. The IS group, also called ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Interior and Justice Ministers from the 28 European Union member states will gather in Brussels on Friday for an emergency meeting on the matter. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it likely will be approved.
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The decision by lawmakers means the state of emergency will be in place for three months from November 26. For proof, he pointed to their history of executions, bombings, beheadings and added that the use of chemical and biological weapons can’t be ruled out. The high-speed Eurostar train that connects Paris and London briefly suspended check-ins at Paris’s Gare du Nord, and several German Bundesliga soccer teams said they were beefing up security before their matches.
