Paris attacks: French says attack ‘mastermind’ was killed

Abaaoud, a Belgian national, was killed in a ferocious police onslaught Wednesday on an apartment building in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, where the attacks began on November 13 with three explosions outside the Stade de France stadium.

As a manhunt intensified Thursday for a fugitive connected to the carnage, details emerged about the intelligence operation that allowed authorities to zero in on Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian-Moroccan extremist they say orchestrated the attacks in Paris and four plots thwarted earlier this year.

Since Abaaoud was also flagged in Greece, the question arises whether IS was deliberately trying to frame refugees for the attack in a bid to spark divisions in Europe.

The death of Abaaoud and Aitboulahcen ended one chapter of intense criminal investigation following the coordinated attacks at a national stadium, a theater venue, and several outdoor boulevards that killed a total of 129 people.

An NYPD spokesman says in a statement issued Wednesday some of the video footage is old but the video reaffirms the message the city remains a top terrorist target.

Earlier in Parliament, Mr Valls also warned of the danger of an attack in France using chemical or biological weapons.

Investigators believe the attacks – the deadliest in France since World War Two – were set in motion in Syria, with Islamist cells in neighbouring Belgium organising the mayhem.

It is believed he might have been one of the men in a vehicle from which gunmen opened fire on restaurants, killing dozens.

It comes as anti-terror police have stormed six addresses in a notorious jihadi hotbed in Brussels linked to one of the Paris suicide bombers.

He spoke as lawmakers voted to extend a state of emergency for three months.

Abaaoud died in a French police raid on Wednesday.

An audio recording apparently captured her last moments alive as police demanded to know the whereabouts of Abaaoud before the bomb was detonated.

Confirmation that such a high-profile figure from the Islamic State (IS) group had slipped undetected into France prompted a sharp response from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who demanded Europe step up its response to the terror threat.

A third body was discovered at the apartment where the mastermind of the Paris attacks was killed.

France called Friday on its European Union partners to take immediate and decisive action to toughen the bloc’s borders and prevent the entry of more violent radicals.

“Everyone must understand it is urgent that Europe wakes up, organises itself and defends itself against the terrorist threat”, he told reporters on Thursday. Since Friday’s attacks, the ministry has ordered house arrest for over 100 people, and it has conducted almost 200 house searches.

Next week Hollande is going to Washington and Moscow to push for a stronger global coalition against IS.

At least 247 jihadists who traveled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State, have returned to France, Valls said.