Mastermind of France Attack is Killed - French Prosecutors Confirm

The suspected mastermind of the Paris terror attacks was killed in yesterday's dramatic police siege on his safe house, prosecutors have confirmed. Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was first hit in the head by a police sniper and then blown to pieces by numerous grenades during the raid in the suburb of Saint-Denis.

His body was so unrecognisable it has taken more than 24 hours for forensic tests to confirm he is now dead using DNA from his saliva. Paris prosecutors said his body was 'riddled with bullets', adding that it was unclear whether Abaaoud had detonated a suicide belt.

Now the French authorities will have to explain how they allowed the known terrorist, who was thought to be in Syria, to operate so freely in their country, killing 129 people in the process.

'This is a major failing,' said Roland Jaquard, from the International Observatory for Terrorism.

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said France did not know before last week's deadly attacks that Abaaoud was in Europe, but said he was believed to be behind four of six attacks thwarted since spring by French authorities.
He said: 'No information coming from European countries, where he could have transited before arriving in France, was given to us.

'It was only on November 16, after the Paris attacks, that an intelligence service outside Europe signalled that he had been aware of his presence in Greece.'

Abaaoud had previously bragged about travelling across Europe at will to plot atrocities – even after being arrested. Abaaoud, believed to be the ringleader of last Friday's massacres, died in a ferocious six-hour gun and grenade battle which saw 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired by police in the early hours of yesterday.

Police launched the operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surveillance and tip-offs suggesting that Abaaoud was holed up there.

Three police officials told the Associated Press news agency that Abaaoud's French-born cousin, Hasna Aitboulahcen, 27, also died after after detonating her explosive vest, making her Europe's first ever suicide bomber.

One said the woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, is believed to have detonated a suicide vest in the building after a brief conversation with police officers in which she shouts 'Help me, help me'.

The official confirmed an audio recording, punctuated by gunshots, in which an officer asks: 'Where is your boyfriend?' and she responds angrily: 'He's not my boyfriend!' Then loud bangs are heard.

The bodies recovered in the raid were badly mangled, with part of Aitboulahcen's spine landing on a police car, slowing down the identification process, according to one of the officials.

A french anti-terror officer, who led the raid, also said he saw her head 'flying out of a window' and onto the street below. Part of her spine also landed on a police car, slowing down the identification process, according to one of the officials.

Another jihadi's body was found riddled with bullets when more than 100 armed officers stormed the flat in Saint-Denis believing Abaaoud was inside with six other terrorists, including Salah Abdeslam. Jean-Michel Fauvergue, 56, led the tactical RAID police unit responsible for Wednesday morning's assault. (Dailymail)