French Police Raid Daesh Cell in Saint Denis: Alleged Jihadi and Planner of Terror Attacks in Paris Dead
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Paris — A few hours before dawn, local French anti-terrorist police barricaded Place Jean Jaurès and streets located near the Basilica Saint Denis. They raided a suspected terrorist hideout located on Rue du Corbillon.
Police met armed resistance. Initially there were two waves of gunfire and explosions spaced at about 15 minute intervals, then a long pause. Heavy firing resumed about three hours later. Just before dawn there were large explosions and multiple bursts of gunfire.According to French Police statements, at least two suspect were killed, including a person in the apartment who detonated a suicide vest. At least three police were injured in the operation. A total of seven suspects found in
the apartment, an adjacent apartment, and in a nearby location were arrested. A subsequent search operation ended about 11:30 am.
Onsite DNA testing was used to identify both the dead and suspects undergoing interrogation. Cell phones recovered may assist investigators in determining the location of other Daesh cells. Since the attacks, police in France, Belgium and other European countries have raided more than 400 locations in search of suspects and intelligence. Police later confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud (also spelled Abdel-Hamid Abu Oud), a Daesh jihadi based in Belgium was killed in the raid. French police described Abaaoud as the mastermind of a series of linked shootings and bombings in Paris last Friday that killed at least 130 people and injured 368 more.
