The suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, has been identified as one of those killed in Wednesday’s raid in the suburb of Saint Denis, the Paris prosecutor says.
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He said at least two people died.
He was spotted on the tape at 10:14 p.m. (2114 GMT) last Friday evening after shootings at several cafes and suicide bombings near a packed soccer stadium had taken place, but while an attack was still under way at a concert hall. He is believed to have recruited young men from immigrant families in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, where he grew up, and elsewhere in Belgium and France.
“Omar Abaaoud regrets that his son was not taken alive”, Nathalie Gallant told journalists two days after the 28-year-old was gunned down north of Paris.
The suspects appeared to be “prepared to act” in another possible attack, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said, noting their weaponry, structured organization and determination.
This undated image made available in the Islamic State’s English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
Abaaoud was also checked by police at Cologne-Bonn airport on his way to Istanbul in early 2014, German officials said, but was allowed to go as they had no indication he should be stopped.
European security authorities had believed he was in Syria.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Abaaoud “played a decisive role” in the Paris attacks and played a part in four of six terror attacks foiled since spring, with one alleged jihadist claiming Abaaoud had trained him personally.
France has called for changes to the EU’s Schengen border-free travel zone to make it tougher to travel across Europe.
The attacks in Mali were another slap in the face for France, which has stationed 3,500 troops in northern Mali that are meant to be restoring stability and security after a Tuareg rebellion was hijacked by al Qaeda linked fighters in 2012.
Talking to French lawmakers Thursday about extending that country’s state of emergency, Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that not taking steps to combat ISIS could have dire consequences.
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The search for normalcy in a city shaken to its core persisted even as suspects remained on the run and investigators desperately fought to keep terrorists from striking again.
