Suspected mastermind of Paris attacks Abaaoud died in police raid

“That is the first indication we have received”, Richier said.

The body of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was found in the building targeted Wednesday in the chaotic, bloody raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis and was identified based on skin samples, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Thursday. The Associated Press reported Thursday the woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, was Abaaoud’s cousin. Also Thursday, authorities in Belgium said they had detained nine people during as many raids in and around Brussels relating to the Paris attacks or one of the suicide bombers.

We start with the latest on the recent terror attacks in Paris Investigators now say the suspected ringleader of the attacks was indeed killed in a shoot-out with police on Wednesday morning, local time. The prosecutor later added that it was unclear whether Abaaoud had detonated a suicide belt.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

The official confirmed an audio recording, punctuated by gunshots, in which an officer asks: “Where is your boyfriend?” and she responds angrily: “He’s not my boyfriend!” No information has been released on the status of Salah Abdeslam, another of the identified suspects in the Paris attacks Friday.

“Abaaoud played a decisive role in these attacks”, Cazeneuve said. “The investigation will establish precisely how this Belgo-Moroccan was involved”. He also called for more global cooperation, and said he wants to amend the Belgian constitution to extend the length of time terror suspects can be held by police without charge. Abdeslam’s brother, Salah, is still being sought as a suspected accomplice.

Belgian authorities today launched six raids in the Brussels region linked to Bilal Hadfi, one of the suicide bombers outside the Stade de France.

Jean-Pascal Thoreau, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, later told CNN that no one was arrested in the raid. He had bragged in the Islamic State’s English-language magazine, that he was able to slip in and out of Europe undetected. The Islamist was the subject of an global 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.

The 28-year-old Abaaoud was thought to have been in Syria – where he had boasted of planning attacks on the West – and his presence in France raises troubling questions about a breakdown in intelligence and border security.

The Paris attacks and ISIS’ claim of bringing down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month have underscored the extremist group’s desire to expand the reach of its terror.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he welcomed the death of “one of the masterminds” of the attacks. The measures will now go to the Senate for approval. “He also did not identify the people arrested”.

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.

France requested a meeting of European interior and justice ministers Friday in Brussels to discuss the fight against terrorism. “It is urgent that Europe wakes up, organises itself and defends itself against the terrorist threat”, he told reporters.

Russian Federation has taken military action in Syria independently of the U.S.-led coalition, attacking ISIS but also other groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Moscow.