Mastermind behind Paris attacks is dead

New York Post – Shawn Cohen, Isabel Vincent and Bruce Golding

The mastermind behind the Paris terror attacks was killed Wednesday by police, who also hauled off a half-naked cohort in a predawn raid on their ISIS den.

Authorities also arrested eight other terror suspects, including the man who was wearing no pants or shorts as he was frog-marched from the scene following seven hours of fierce fighting during which special-forces police officers fired 5,000 bullets.  

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian-born jihadist linked to several previous terror conspiracies, was one of two people killed during the siege in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, two top European officials told the Washington Post.

 

The second person killed during the raid was a blond woman identified as Abaaoud’s cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen.

She blew herself up with an explosive vest after screaming out, “Help me! Help me!,”according to the Daily Mail.

The raid by more than 100 heavily armed anti-terror cops, joined by French army forces, thwarted plans by the Islamic extremists to attack Charles de Gaulle Airport and a shopping mall, French media reported.

A Paris prosecutor said five days of investigation and raids since Friday’s attacks had turned up a “total war arsenal,” including Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition and knives.

Several cellphones used by the attackers were also recovered, including one found in a trash can outside the Bataclan theater, where 89 concertgoers were slain during last week’s rampage.

That phone held a text message sent on Friday that said: “Let’s go, we’re starting.”

Meanwhile, ISIS threatened to attack New York City in a new propaganda videofeaturing footage of storefronts in Times Square and Herald Square interspersed with suicide bombers donning explosive belts.

At one point, a fighter holds a grenade and pulls the pin as the screen goes black.

The 5½-minute video begins with Islamic extremists praising Friday’s terror spree across Paris, which killed 129 people and injured hundreds more.

It ends with an ominous written message in Arabic and French that says: “What’s coming next will be far worse and more bitter.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference Thursday night in Times Square with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and said there was no specific threat against the city.

“We will not be intimidated. We will not live in fear,” Bratton said.

Also Wednesday, surveillance video surfaced showing the terrifying scenewhen a gunman in a dark T-shirt shot up one of several Paris cafes targeted by the attackers on Friday.

At one point in the clip, posted online by the Mail, a young woman cowers in fear under an outdoor table as the shooter stands over her, points his rifle in her face and pulls the trigger.

But instead of going off, the gun apparently misfires or jams, and the woman incredibly manages to escape with her life.

In other recent developments from the Paris attacks:

• At least 33 ISIS militants have been killed by military airstrikes in the last 72 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The London-based group said many of the terrorists living in Raqqa, Syria, are fleeing to Mosul, Iraq, out of safety concerns.
• France will not “cede to fear,” French President François Hollande said during an address to local politicians Wednesday. “Life must resume,” he said, urging people to get back to their normal lives. “What would our country be without its cafes, concerts, sports events, museums?” He pledged additional security to help facilitate museum and other cultural attraction reopenings. Hollande also hit back at those linking the terrorist attacks to Syrian refugees — confirming that France will still accept 30,000 refugees in the next two years. “Some people have tried to draw a connection between the movement of refugees from the Middle East and the terrorist threat,” he said. “This link exists because people from Iraq and Syria live in areas controlled by Islamic State and are killed by those who attack us.”
• Copenhagen International Airport’s main terminal was evacuated Wednesday because of a “suspicious bag,” according to the Associated Press. A slew of emergency personnel — including a bomb squad, fire trucks and police — were seen assessing the situation.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she thought officials made the right decision to cancel the soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands due to multiple security concerns. “These are difficult decisions, perhaps the most difficult given the conflicting priorities of freedom and security,” she said. “I was just as sad as millions of fans that the match was canceled, but the security officials took a responsible decision.”
• Since Sunday, there have been more than 400 raids in France.
• European authorities were searching for a Citroen Xsara that could be transporting Salah Abdeslam. French authorities have sent out a document to European police asking them to be on the lookout for the getaway vehicle, a Spanish security official told El Español.

http://nypost.com/2015/11/18/mastermind-behind-paris-attacks-is-dead/