Abdelhamid Abaoud, 27, lived in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, as did two of the attackers, and is now believed to be based in Syria, where he has risen through the IS ranks. His body was riddled with bullets, according to officials.
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In Moscow, Putin ordered the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, now in the Mediterranean, to start cooperating with the French military on operations in Syria.
PARIS – The Belgian jihadi suspected of masterminding deadly attacks in Paris was killed in a police raid on a suburban apartment building, the city prosecutor’s office announced Thursday. A woman also in the apartment blew herself up with a suicide bomb vest or belt.
Mr Cazeneuve said 128 more raids on suspected militants were carried out. The site is less than two kilometres (just over a mile) from the Stade de France stadium, which was targeted by three suicide bombers during Friday’s attacks. There was no immediate official confirmation.
Earlier, two Air France flights en route to Paris from the United States were diverted because of security issues, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Two are known to be on the run.
French prime minister Manuel Valls warned terrorists could use chemical or biological weapons, and urged an extension of France’s state of emergency.
Seven others were arrested, but the fate of alleged mastermind of Paris attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud – said to be hiding their – remains unknown, agencies report.
Mr Valls refused to comment on media reports that Amimour had slipped back into France unnoticed despite being the object of an arrest warrant for terrorism-related activity. France’s BFM TV reported that the death toll was 100.
In a sign of the nervousness after Friday’s carnage in Paris, a football match last night between Germany and the Netherlands – which German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to attend – was cancelled and the crowd evacuated after police acted on a “serious” bomb threat.
He said: “We’re thinking of the victims and their families but you have to understand that we have a mum, a family and above all he’s still her son”.
All emergency services were mobilised, police leave was cancelled and hospitals recalled staff to cope with the casualties.
Hollande noted that “some people say the tragic events of the last few days have sown doubts in their minds”, but called it a “humanitarian duty” to help those people … but one that will go hand in hand with “our duty to protect our people”.
The French military says it has destroyed 35 IS targets in Syria since last Friday.
France has been on high alert ever since Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket in Paris in January, killing 18 people. He also confirmed that the French president would travel to Washington next week to meet US President Barack Obama.
On the other hand, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reportedly claimed responsibility on the multiple attacks in Paris through statements and videos. A witness told TV station France 3 they had heard explosions.
“There are lots of people here”.
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An audio recording from the scene of the raid, aired on French channel TF1, appeared to feature an exchange between the bomber and police in which she shouts to them: “He’s not my boyfriend”.
