Paris attack mastermind confirmed killed in St. Denis raid

PARIS — French officials have confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian extremist suspected masterminding Friday's terror attacks in Paris, was killed when authorities raided the Belgian terror cell's hideout in the Paris suburb of St. Denis.

Abaaoud is suspected of organizing the attacks on Paris which killed 129 people and injured 350, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility. One attacker, Salah Abdeslam, is still on the run.

The Paris prosecutor confirmed Thursday that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed by police bullets and a grenade blast on Wednesday. His cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen, 26, also killed herself with a suicide belt blast on the same floor.

Due to the suicide blast and police grenades, the third floor of the building completely collapsed during Wednesday's raid on the apartment in St. Denis.

Identification of Abaaoud's body was made more difficult by it's extremely mangled condition and the possibility of further collapse of the apartment building.

After initial reports said Abaaoud was not among those arrested in the St. Denis raid, French authorities were able to identify his remains using skin samples on Thursday.

Police arrested eight people in Wednesday's raid and recovered multiple weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and explosive belts. Two police sources told Reuters the cell had been planning a fresh attack on Paris's La Defense business district.

French authorities believed Abdelhamid Abaaoud was still in Syria, where he went in 2014. French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, talking to French radio on Thursday, said his presence in France showed faults in the European system of border checks.

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