Obtained by ABC News(PARIS) — The alleged mastermind of last week’s deadly Paris attacks was killed Wednesday during a raid carried out by French police, the Paris prosecutor confirmed Thursday.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud was identified by his fingerprints collected at the scene in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. His body was found “riddled with impacts,” according to the prosecutor’s statement.
The operation started with shootings at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. It resulted in the initial arrest of three people inside an apartment. At that point, a woman triggered a suicide vest.
Police fired nearly 5,000 rounds during the Saint-Denis raid, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday, adding that it was a particularly difficult raid because the apartment had an armored door.
Investigators were led to the apartment building in Saint-Denis after reviewing cellphone records and surveillance video indicating that Abbaoud, previously thought to be in Syria, was staying there, Molins said.
Molins said the blast from the suicide bomber caused the building to partially collapse, which has added to the amount of time needed to conduct the investigation because officials have had to reinforce the walls before collecting more evidence.
“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 after the raid.
Meanwhile, Belgian police early Thursday morning detained one person in connection with Friday’s attacks, in the Laeken area of Brussels, according to the Belgian Prosecutor’s office.
The individual is being questioned but there is no indication of what the connection might be to the attacks.
The Prosecutor’s office also confirmed that six raids were taking place across Belgium, including Molenbeek, Brussels-city and Jette.
The raids are connected to Bilal Hadfi, one of the alleged Paris stadium bombers.
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
