BREAKING: Alleged mastermind behind Paris attacks confirmed dead
Posted By: Channel 8 Newsroom
8@klkntv.com
The alleged mastermind behind the Paris attacks was killed yesterday during a raid carried out by French police, the Paris Prosecutor has confirmed.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud was identified by his fingerprints.
The news comes shortly after Belgian police have detained one person in connection with the Paris attacks, in the Laeken area of Brussels early Thursday according to the Belgian Prosecutor’s office.
They are currently being questioned but there is no indication as to what the connection may or may not be to the attacks.
The Prosecutor’s office also confirmed that 6 raids are taking place across Belgium, including Molenbeek, Brussels-city and Jette.
The raids are connected to Bilal Hadfi, one of the alleged Stadium bombers.
The news comes as French police say they thwarted another potential terror plot during an early morning raid Wednesday seeking the suspected organizer of the Paris attacks.
Investigators were led to an apartment building in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis after reviewing cellphone records and surveillance video indicating that Abdelhamid Abbaoud, previously thought to be in Syria, was staying there, Prosecutor Francois Molins said.
Details of the raid are still being investigated, but Molins confirmed that a total of eight people were arrested as a result of the police activity – one woman and seven men.
Abaaoud was not among those taken into custody, Molins said, nor was Salah Abdeslam, who is believed to have been the eighth member of the team who carried out the coordinated attacks last Friday. None of the identities of those arrested have been released.
Two people died in the course of the raid – one was killed by a projectile and grenade, officials said, while the other, thought to be a woman, died after detonating a suicide vest.
Molins said the blast from the suicide bomber led the building to partially collapse, which will add to the amount of time needed to conduct the investigation, as officials will have to reinforce the walls before collecting more evidence.
The identities of those killed have not yet been confirmed.
Molins said that, as a result of the raid, “another terrorist team has been neutralized.”
"We have reason to believe given their weaponry, given their structured organization, and their determination, we have reason to believe this commando cell could have moved to act," Molins said.
