Paris attacks: Abdelhamid Abaaoud ‘died in Saint Denis raid’

Now that evidence has emerged concerning the knowledge that authorities had about the jihadi connection of the perpetrators, it appears that there were dots on the radar screen but the intelligence services failed to join them in a pattern and thus overlooked the conspiratorial plot. So too was Salah, though it is unclear if he had ever tried or succeeded in travelling to Syria. The authorities said the raids “were not directly linked to the attacks” but they recovered “several objects with a particular link to radicalisation”.

Due to the severe damage to the building, it was impossible to know how many died and who they were, the prosecutor said.

The district’s most important cultural site is the Basilica of Saint Denis. Arrests in Belgium and Germany followed shortly after the attacks.

He had, he said, returned to Syria, despite his face having been well known to police thanks to a much-posted video of him driving a pick-up truck towing the bloodied bodies of prisoners. For proof, he pointed to their history of executions, bombings, beheadings and added that the use of chemical and biological weapons can’t be ruled out.

The official, who has direct knowledge of the police investigation but is not authorized to speak publicly about the probe, said Abaaoud also is suspected of overseeing two thwarted attacks earlier this year on a Paris church and a Paris-bound train. Up until Wednesday, Abaaoud was believed to be in Syria. “My name and picture were all over the news yet I was able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them, and leave safely”. “I was even stopped by an officer who contemplated me so as to compare me to the picture, but he let me go, as he did not see the resemblance”. Reports suggest that a female suicide bomber blew her up when officials were close to apprehend her. But it didn’t cause death or injuries to police or SWAT teams taking part in the operation to flush out terrorists. He had an global arrest warrant out on him after he broke his parole the following year and travelled to Syria.

Two people are reported to have died – including a woman in a suicide vest who is thought to have blown herself up – while another five were arrested as heavily armed units launched an operation targeting Islamic State militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Members of his family were released from custody after questioning. I was asked to do a favour and I said yes.

Militant Publication via Associated PressAn undated image, which was obtained by the Associated Press from Islamic State’s English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

Ms Gallant, quoting the father, said he hopes that when current events are over “I will finally learn what became of Younes”.

He was a target because he was not a passive player: Cazeneuve claimed 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.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to divulge details of the investigation.

The presumed mastermind of last week’s devastating attacks in Paris once bragged about being so slippery he could move undetected between Syria and Belgium, his home country.

A Spanish security official said Wednesday that French authorities have sent out a bulletin to police across Europe asking them to watch out for a Citroen Xsara auto that could be carrying Abdeslam.

This danger was reiterated by French president François Hollande directly after the Paris attacks, which he described as “prepared, organized, and planned from overseas, with complicity from the inside”.

“I know well that not all countries share the same interests, don’t have the same conceptions, don’t have necessarily the same allies”, Hollande said Wednesday.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls thanked police and security agencies for their “incredible work” in the raid.