France Learned Abaaoud Was In Country Monday

The ringleader behind the Paris attacks is dead, killed during a dramatic raid that shook a neighborhood and collapsed an entire floor of an apartment building.

The narrative provided by French officials raised questions about how a wanted militant suspected of involvement in multiple plots could slip into Europe undetected. His body was identified based on his fingerprints.

Intelligence has linked Abaaoud to Mehdi Nemmouche, who carried out an attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels on May 24, 2014, killing four people.

“Abdelhamid Abaaoud has just been formally identified…as having been killed during the raid” in the northern Paris suburb on Wednesday, Francois Molins said in a statement.

Authorities have said they believe at least two suspects in the Paris attacks could be on the run. The phone contained a message sent sometime before the attacks began to the effect of: OK, we’re ready, the officials said.

A prosecutors’ spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday the goals of the investigation include determining if there was a terrorist organization.

Belgian-origin Abaaoud, 28, was killed after police raided an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis on Wednesday, BBC quoted the office as saying. One said the woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, is believed to have detonated a suicide vest Wednesday in the building after a brief conversation with police officers.

French officials have called for changes to the functioning of the EU’s Schengen zone, which normally does not monitor the entry and exit of citizens of its 26 countries.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

According to the official, one of the officers asked: “Where is your boyfriend?” and she responded angrily: “He’s not my boyfriend!” before there was an explosion. Eight people were arrested in connection with the raids, including two who were pulled out of the rubble.

Molins said it was not yet clear whether Abaaoud blew himself up.

“Abaaoud played a decisive role in these attacks”, Cazeneuve said. As details were still emerging of the shootout, United States intelligence published a report showing it warned in May that IS was capable of carrying out the kind of large-scale, coordinated attacks seen in Paris.

Abaaoud was linked to a foiled April plot to attack a church near Paris, Cazeneuve said, and police were also probing possible links to a thwarted assault on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in August. Abdeslam’s brother, Salah, is still being sought as a suspected accomplice. An official in the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said the raids targeted people in Hadfi’s “entourage”. But anti-terror police say he left Europe for the Islamic State in 2014.

The Islamist was the subject of an worldwide arrest warrant issued by Belgium – where a court had in July sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for recruiting jihadists for Syria.

Moscow launched air strikes in Syria six weeks ago and says it is targeting Islamic State, although most of its strikes have hit areas controlled by other groups opposed to Assad. He added, “We know that there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons”.

He spoke as lawmakers voted to extend a state of emergency for three months. Measures taken thus far, the minister said Thursday, haven’t been implemented fast enough or don’t go far enough.

Valls had pressed for the extension, and warned Thursday that an attack using “chemical or biological weapons” could not be ruled out, though he did not mention a specific threat. “The fight against terrorism is crucial”.

Europe’s porous borders meant that Abaaoud was able to plan four out of the six terrorist plots foiled by the French this year, Mr Cazeneuve said.