As France heightens its assault on militants in Syria, President Hollande has called on U.S. President Obama and Russian President Putin to come together in an worldwide coalition to address the conflict in Syria and defeat the Islamic State group.
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Heavily armed Belgian police also launched a major operation in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, which authorities consider to be a focal point for extremists and fighters going to Syria from Belgium.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud is accused of being the leader of an Islamic State cell.
French President François Hollande leaving the Élysée Palace in Paris on November 18, 2015.
The ministry’s statement said the airstrikes were “conducted in coordination with USA forces” and “aimed at sites identified during reconnaissance missions previously carried out by France”.
But three French police officials and a top French security official have confirmed that officers let Abdeslam go after checking his ID.
Following the deadly attacks, French President Francois Hollande declared that his country was now “at war” with ISIS, and vowed to intensify operations in Syria.
Mohamed Abdeslam, who was among those arrested in Belgium, was released on Monday and is the brother of Salah Abdeslam who is now the subject of a continental manhunt. He who targets the Republic will find the Republic will catch him, will be implacable.
Paris attack suspect Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, a prominent Belgian jihadist and said to be one of the main active ISIS operators in Syria, is the suspected mastermind behind Friday’s shootings and bombings that killed and injured hundreds of people in Paris.
Mr. Abaaoud also has been linked to at least two other unsuccessful recent terror attacks: one against a Paris-bound train that was thwarted by three Americans in August, and the other against a church in the city’s suburbs in April. He has since been featured in ISIS’ online English-language magazine.
Two more suicide bombers involved in the Paris attacks have been identified.
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Abaaoud is from Molenbeek, a poor district in Brussels, in which at least one of the Paris attackers and a number of people arrested in subsequent raids had spent time.
