French police with protective shields walk in line near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris, France, November 14, 2015. (Photo : Reuters/Christian Hartmann)
The mastermind behind the terrorist attacks in Paris, France on Nov. 13, Friday, was Abdehamid Abaaoud, 27, the French authorities have concluded. Prior to the Paris terrorist attacks, the Belgian man fought in Syria for the Islamic State.
Abaaoud had expressed his plans to attack a concert hall to a French citizen who came back from Syria, a French official told New York Times. The official briefed on the investigation was not authorized to talk about operational details spoke on the condition of anonymity, the publication claimed.
Apparently, Abaaoud was already a suspect in a Belgian terrorist plot that was stopped in January. He was also in contact with one of the Paris attackers, Ismaël Omar Mostefaï.
According to President François Hollande of France, the Paris terrorist attacks had been planned in Syria, which he described as "the biggest factory of terrorists the world has ever known." He said the attacks had been organized in Belgium and perpetrated on the French soil "with French complicity."
The Paris terrorist attacks were executed after some of the terrorists trained in Syria with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Iraqi intelligence officials announced on Nov. 15, Sunday. Found at the scene of the attacks at the soccer stadium was a passport linked to the migrant wave of refugees fleeing Syria, CBS News reported.
During a joint session of Parliament at the Château de Versailles, Hollande emphasized that France is at war and proposed to extend the state of emergency he declared right after the Paris terrorist attacks for three months.
