The fate of the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abaaoud, is still unknown after a police raid.
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Belgian authorities conducted seven raids across the Brussels area Thursday that they hope could shed further light on the plot behind the Paris attacks.
His body was found in the apartment building targeted in the chaotic and bloody raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Wednesday.
The Washington Post quotes two sources who say he was killed in a Wednesday raid. One said Hasna Aitboulahcen is believed to have detonated a suicide vest after a brief conversation with police officers. Then loud bangs are heard. Eight people were arrested.
Abaaoud, an Belgian jihadist and top Islamic State commander thought to be behind France’s deadliest terror attacks last Friday, was identified using prints. He added, “We know that there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons”.
ISIS, meanwhile, released a new video threatening NY, and specifically Times Square, although police said there was no “current and specific” threat. Elsewhere in Europe, jittery leaders and law enforcement moved to protect their populations as Rob Wainwright, director of the European Union’s police coordination organization Europol, warned of “a very serious escalation” of the terror threat in Europe.
At least 129 people were killed when terrorists struck multiple locations Friday in Paris, and more than 350 others were wounded. The man who was attacked will live. No relationship exists between the Paris attackers and anyone in the United States, they said. Another unidentified suspect may also still be on the loose.
Investigators believe the attacks – the worst atrocity in France since World War Two – was set in motion from Syria, with Islamist cells in neighbouring Belgium organising the mayhem. The IS group, also called ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attacks. “We searched through methods we have, that our personnel have to inquire within France after it was known he was behind the attacks”, a senior Moroccan government official said.
“Terrorism hit France not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria… but for what it is”, Valls told the lower house of Parliament.
Paris and Moscow are not coordinating their air strikes in Syria, but French President Francois Hollande is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 26 to discuss how their countries’ militaries might work together.
In its English-language magazine, Islamic State said it will continue its violence and “retaliate with fire and bloodshed” for insults against the Prophet Muhammad and “the multitudes killed and injured in crusader airstrikes”.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud (28) was killed in a shootout on Wednesday, the French prosecutor has said.
On the phone was a floor plan of the theatre and a final message: “we’re off, we’ve started” and the recipient of the message is still to de confirmed.
Yesterday, authorities said because of the carnage, forensic evidence had to be used to identify the dead. Two of the nine have been charged with terrorist murder and belonging to a terrorist group, the official said. If it is a considered a “public danger”, they could do it without a warrant from a judge.
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They are now being questioned but there is no indication as to what the connection may or may not be to the attacks.
