The Belgian national reportedly spearheaded the massacre before seeking safe haven in Saint-Denis, a suburb outside Paris.
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Photographs show the scale of damage caused during the operation as police closed in on Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader behind the Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed.
Police then launched a predawn raid Wednesday morning that resulted in both their deaths and the arrests of seven suspects. One of the seven dead has not been identified, while a manhunt is underway for one suspect who escaped, Salah Abdeslam, 26.
Islamic State, which controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, has claimed responsibility, saying the attacks were in retaliation for French air raids against their positions over the past year.
French President Francois Hollande has said the terrorists targeted “youth in all its diversity”.
His brother, Brahim, was killed in the attack (below). Service was halted on the Brussels Metro, as well as on streetcar lines that run underground. French, from Drancy near St. Denis. Subject of global arrest warrant since late 2013. “We do not know at this stage whether Abaaoud blew himself up or not”.
Bilal Hadfi, 20 (born Jan 22, 1995).
He was kidnapped two years ago by Abdelhamid from his home in Brussels and taken to a training camp in Syria. And others, I must remind you, were in France’. His fingerprints match up with prints of a person registered under that name as arriving in Greece in October 3 2015. A third unidentified person died with them, officials said on Friday. No further identity information has been provided.
Before the attacks, European governments thought that Abaaoud was still in Syria.
The following is a timeline of the events in local time (GMT +1).
Officials reported that she had blown herself up during the raid, but a source close to the investigation said on Friday that someone else in the flat had used the explosive vest.
“We must move swiftly and with force”, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Our correspondent says the two men bought ferry tickets to leave Leros to continue their journey through Europe with Syrian refugees.
According to Reuters, following a series of attacks in Paris, which left at least 129 people dead and hundreds more wounded, police focused their efforts on Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a 26-year-old woman who was already under surveillance for a drug-related investigation.
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The victims came from 17 different countries, many of them young people out enjoying themselves at bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a soccer stadium near where Wednesday’s police raid took place. Police also seized 250,000 euros.
