Suspected 'mastermind' of Paris attacks identified as Belgian believed in Syria

[Valin]

Fox News:

November 16, 2015

 

A Belgian jihadist believed to be fighting alongside ISIS in Syria has been identified by investigators as the suspected mastermind behind Friday's attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

 

A French official told the Associated Press that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old from the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels, was also believed to have ties to to the thwarted attack on a Paris-bound high-speed train this past August, as well as a failed plot to attack a Paris-area church.

 

Two small explosions were heard during a major police action in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek amid a manhunt for a suspect in the Paris attacks. Dozens of masked and heavily armed security officials had sealed off the area and neighbors were told to stay out of harm's way.

 

(Snip)

 

Earlier Monday, the scope of the terror threat facing Western Europe became clear as French police uncovered an "arsenal" of weapons as part of 168 pre-dawn raids on suspected Islamists across the country, while France's prime minister warned that "terrorism could strike again in the days or weeks to come."

 

"I don't want to scare people but to warn them," Manuel Valls told RTL radio. "We will keep living for a long time with the terrorist threat."

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters that 104 people have been placed under house arrest in the past 48 hours and that 31 weapons had been seized, including a rocket launcher, a flak jacket, and 15 handguns.

 

"It's just a start," Cazeneuve said, "these operations are going to continue, the response of the Republic will be huge, will be total. The one who targets the Republic, the Republic will catch him, will be implacable."

 

(Snip)