The primary suspect perceived to have coordinated the Paris attacks last week was just killed on Wednesday after police pursued a raid. French officials announced the news on Thursday.
Authorities were only able to identify Belgian-born Islamic State operative Abdelhamid Abaaoud 24 hours after the raid. The delay in identification was due to his body being "heavily damaged" from several gunshot wounds and a detonated grenade.
According to the New York Times:
"The confirmation of Mr. Abaaoud's death followed fingerprint analysis, the Paris Prosecutor, François Molins, said in a statement. Mr. Abaaoud's body was heavily riddled with wounds from gunfire and a grenade detonated during the raid. 'We do not know at this stage whether Abaaoud blew himself up or not,' Mr. Molins's office said."
Another person also died during the raid, 26-year-old Hasna Aitboulahcen, who is also suspected to be an ISIS operative. The woman opened fire on police before detonating a suicide vest.
French intelligence officials say that Aitboulahcen is the cousin of Abaaoud. In addition, the Paris prosecutor noted that it is unknown if Abdelhamid Abaaoud's disfigurement is a result of his cousin's suicide blast, or his own.
Moreover, Molins had said that phone taps, in addition to surveillance operations, suggested that Abaaoud was possibly hiding in the apartment that was raided, according to BBC.
The raid - which began at approximately 4:20AM local time at the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis - spanned nearly eight hours, whereas police and militants shot more than 5,000 rounds, as reported by NTRSCTN.
Furthermore, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the National Assembly:
"We now know that Abaaoud, the brain behind these attacks - one of the brains, because we must be particularly cautious, and we know what the threats are - was among the dead."
During the raid, officials had also arrested seven other suspected militants. Their identities were not released to the public.
