Mastermind of Paris terror attacks killed in raid

UPDATE: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is believed to have orchestrated the Paris terror attacks, was killed in a raid yesterday at an apartment in the Saint-Denis neighborhood, authorities said this morning. The office of prosecutor Francois Molins said officials identified his body using skin samples from the scene of Wednesday’s explosive shootout.

Police also said a cousin of Abaaoud died in the raid after setting off an apparent suicide bomb.

UPDATE (Nov. 18, 9:50 p.m.): French authorities working to identify the people killed in a raid on a terror cell say the fate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged architect of last week’s attacks in Paris, is unclear. Two European officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post that Abaaoud was, in fact, killed in the raid, but his death has not been publicly confirmed.

During the hourlong shootout early today at an apartment in the Saint Denis suburb of Paris where an active terror group was staying, police fired grenades and one person is believed to have blown herself up. Abaaoud was not among people arrested after the raid.

“At this time, I’m not in a position to give a precise and definitive number for the people who died, nor their identities, but there are at least two dead people,” Prosecutor Francois Molins said.

UPDATE (Nov. 18, 1:45 p.m.): French police said an overnight raid in a Paris suburb did not lead to the capture of the accused mastermind behind last week’s terror attacks. Though the siege ended by neutralizing a terror cell that was “ready to act,” according to prosecutor Francois Molins, 27-year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud and his suspected accomplice, Salah Abdeslam, were not among those arrested. Authorities are working to identify the people who died in the raid.

Molins described the assault as an hour-long firefight during which police shot 5,000 rounds of ammunition. Heavily armed squads initially were thwarted by a reinforced door to the apartment in Saint-Denis north of Paris where the terror cell had holed up, and faced nearly incessant fire as they worked to enter.

OUR EARLIER STORY (Nov. 18, 8:44 a.m.): Two suspected terrorists are dead and seven others are in custody after Paris police launched an overnight raid on an apartment in Saint-Denis, a suburb north of the city.

Police had hoped to catch the alleged mastermind of Friday’s attacks—27-year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud. But hours after officials declared the operation over, it remained unclear whether Abaaoud was among those captured or killed.

None of the suspected terrorists involved in the raid have been identified.

“As things stand, it is impossible to give you the identities of the people detained, which are being verified,” said Prosecutor Francois Molins. “All will be done to determine who is who, and based on the work of forensic police, we’ll tell you who was in the apartment—and what consequences it will have for the development of the investigation.”

The two dead include one woman who blew herself up with a suicide vest during the siege. The other, a man, died after being hit by projectiles and grenades during the initial assault.

Police moved on the apartment after information from tapped telephone conversations, surveillance, and witness accounts said Abaaoud might be holed up there. The Belgian national of Moroccan descent has bragged about moving freely between Europe and Syria, where the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terror group is based. Abaaoud was thought to be in Syria in January, but his whereabouts now aren’t clear.

French officials are still hunting for Salah Abdeslam, the Belgian man believed to be the only terrorist who survived Friday’s attack. One attacker died in a shootout with police, and seven others blew themselves up with suicide vests.

Four police officers were injured during today’s raid. French President Francois Hollande praised their bravery and said his country is at war with ISIS.

“It is the entire country that's been attacked,” Hollande told a gathering of French mayors. “For what it represents, the fight we are leading to eradicate terrorism. And simply for what we are.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.