Architect Of Paris Attacks Was Killed In Raid, French Authorities Say

It was not clear if the ninth man was one of two suspected accomplices detained in Belgium or was on the run, potentially with 26-year-old fugitive Frenchman Salah Abdeslam who took part in the attacks with his suicide-bomber brother Brahim.

Speaking to reporters at the residence of the US ambassador to France, Kerry said the ceasefire envisioned by the political process agreed upon in Vienna on Saturday would exponentially help efforts to fight the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks that killed 129 people, as well as end the drawn-out Syrian conflict, which has gone on for over four years.

Three police officials say a woman who died in the raid was Abaaoud’s cousin.

In the German city of Hannover, a soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled at the last minute and the stadium evacuated by police because of a bomb threat. The Guardian reports residents have been told to stay inside and roads have been blocked off. He also reaffirmed France’s commitment to taking in 30,000 refugees, despite fears that terrorists may try to enter Europe with the flow of migrants.

Belgian authorities today launched six raids in the Brussels region linked to Bilal Hadfi, one of the suicide bombers in Friday’s attacks.

French officials said the raid Wednesday at an apartment building in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis was a significant step.

Counter-terrorism officials say he may be the link between the group’s senior leaders and operatives in Europe.

Two police sources and a source close to the investigation told Reuters the St. Denis cell had been planning a fresh attack on Paris’s La Defense business district.

“Out of this event in Paris will come an even greater level of vigilance and cooperation in a few places that may have been a little bit less concerned about things hitting them in certain parts of the world”, Kerry said.

“We know that operations were being prepared and are still being prepared, not only against France but other European countries too”, he told RTL radio.

France has stepped up its airstrikes against extremists in Syria, and French military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron said Thursday that French forces have destroyed 35 Islamic State targets in Syria since the attacks on Paris.

France President Francois Hollande has called for a global coalition to eradicate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group following the deadly attacks in Paris.

Two men were found inside the flat, one of whom was injured and arrested.

Abaaoud ended up near Paris after reportedly being in Syria but officials have not said how he managed to travel across so many borders en route to the French capital.

From a video that the French police are holding, two gunmen and possibly a third one can be seen inside a black auto that has since been linked to the attacks.

“The way they are killing is constantly evolving”, Valls said.

The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee said Tuesday that it was likely that militants plotting the attacks in Syria, Belgium and France used encryption to hide their communications from authorities. Sen.

“This is a major failing”, said Roland Jaquard at the worldwide Observatory for Terrorism. They spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to publicly disclose such details.