Hasna Aitboulahcen did not blow herself up in Paris raid

HER involvement in a Paris cell was framed as a game-changer in Islamic State’s terror offensive, but new details from French authorities reveal the female suicide bomber who “blew herself up” in a deadly terror raid may not have done so at all.

“The Paris prosecutor’s office earlier told CNN that police were searching the home of the female suicide bomber’s mother there”. This first photo of Hasna, according to French local sources, is a glimpse at the cousin to Abdelhami Abaaoud – and the culturally-considered obscene hand gesture she’s throwing up.

The officers believed she was trying to lure them into a trap, though the suicide bomb failed to cause any serious injuries to police officers; only five of them sustained minor wounds.

Her brother said she had suffered violence at a young age and began to run with a bad crowd.

This raises the prospect that Ait Boulahcen was trying to give herself up – and may even have been a hostage – when she was caught in the crossfire. “She certainly knew how to handle automatic weapons”.

Another neighbour, Christian, 20, reported hearing a blonde woman he believed was Aitboulahcen shouting “help me, help me, help me”, and police ordering her to raise her hands before hearing a burst of gunfire. “She said the devil was there at night”.

Authorities are also investigating whether Aitboulahcen – described as a blonde-haired extrovert with a fondness for cowboy hats – was firing an automatic rifle.

At last check, 27 people were killed, but that number could go up.

The main police target was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the attacks, who was also killed in the siege. The Twitter account is believed to be associated with a few members of the plot, and was posted the evening of the attacks.

Women in ISIS, for the most part, are used as a commodity.

An extremist group that split from al Qaida’s North Africa branch two years ago and led by Algerian terrorist Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility for the attack.

Asked to explain the U-turn further tonight, the Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said: “All I can tell you is that the kamikaze was not Hasna”. “We will continue to carry out raids if the investigation uncovers individuals who took part in any way in the preparation for these attacks, or individuals who could eventually carry out these attacks in the coming days or weeks”, Falcone said.

Malik said countering the increasing number of women going to Syria to join ISIS requires not just debunking the romantic myths of finding a strong fighter husband but theological ideas too.