Suspected architect of Paris attacks is dead, according to two senior intelligence officials

[jpak]

Source: Washington Post

PARIS — French police commandos descended upon a Paris apartment on Wednesday in a pre-dawn raid aimed at snaring the alleged ringleader of last week’s deadly terrorist attacks, triggering a firefight that left two suspects dead and underscored France’s vulnerability despite a widening crackdown.

A woman triggered a suicide blast when police stormed the apartment in Saint-Denis, a diverse area just north of Paris, and another suspect died, both part of a cell that authorities said may have been plotting another attack around Paris just five days after the coordinated attacks that left at least 129 people dead and over 300 wounded.

It was not immediately clear whether the massive raid snared the most-wanted figures linked to the Paris bloodshed, a Belgian militant who fought with the Islamic State in Syria and boasted he could elude Western intelligence. Seven suspects were arrested in the operation, which lasted seven hours, including two suspects arrested who were found “hiding in rubble” created by explosions during the raid.

Five days after the worst violence on French soil since World War II, European nations remained on edge, enhancing vigilance against possible attacks by Islamist militants who have promised to bring the brutal tactics employed in Iraq and Syria to the West.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2-attack-suspects-in-dead-after-french-police-raid-north-of-paris/2015/11/18/a2b6d52e-8d6a-11e5-934c-a369c80822c2_story.html

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edit: this is breaking news - will update

[LittleGirl]

1. Good. eom

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. It would have been nice to take him alive, but those who seek paradise rarely allow that possibility

Good riddance, if this is true.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

4. Yeah, that paradise thing and the 72 virgins can be problematic.

I'm pretty darn sure he's not getting them!

[LiberalArkie]

13. There is something to be said for humiliating the survivors

[Agnosticsherbet]

19. These are people that wear devices that blow themselves up.

I would say that was likely a safety precaution.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

21. SOP for potential suicide bombers

This is from London 2005



Maybe you'll get lucky and not have to 'humilate' anyone in CONUS

[jpak]

3. Update

PARIS — A massive police raid Wednesdays killed the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks during a blitz-style sweep, two senior European intelligence officials said, after investigators followed leads that the fugitive militant was holed up north of the French capital and could be plotting another wave of violence.

More than 100 police and soldiers stormed the building during a seven-hour siege that left two dead including the suspected overseer of the Paris bloodshed, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who had once boasted he could slip easily between Europe and the Islamic State strongholds in Syria.

The confirmation was made after forsenic experts combed through the aftermath — blown-out windows, floors collapsed by explosions — presumably seeking DNA and other evidence. The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity before announcements from authorities.

The death of the Belgian extremist Abaaoud closed one major dragnet in the international search for suspects from Friday’s carnage that killed at least 129 people and wounded 350 others. At least one other suspect believed closed linked to the Paris attacks remains at large.

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[Aristus]

5. You mean they didn't waste nine years and 5,000 French lives looking for the guy

where he wasn't? Not even to, you know, juice up the French defense industries? And their shareholders? How un-American!

[newfie11]

6. +++++++++++

[AllyCat]

10. OMG spot on!!

[Ahpook]

11. Yes

Can you imagine that happening here? Fox News would be trying to justify a war with Iran.

[brentspeak]

7. "Diesel, a 7-year-old police dog, killed by the terrorists in the raid"

RIP, brave dog.

And good riddance to the trash who killed you.

[bklyncowgirl]

8. Rest in pieces, Asshole.

[uppityperson]

9. I wish they'd caught them and imprisoned them, but glad they are unable to hurt more people

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Goooooooot 'emmmmmm

Knock knock.

Au revoir.

[imthevicar]

14. SCOFFS

How Convenient!

[matt819]

15. OK

Here's the problem.

The leader of the Paris attack is dead. Some say great. Others might have preferred a prosecution. Whatever.

ISIS may have some sort of leadership structure that works for them, but it is not a conventional organization. Kill this guy, and others are ready to take his place. Probably already in place. In fact, kill the leadership, and there is undoubtedly a legion of true believers who are ready to assume the mantle of leadership.

In short, who/what are we at war with? The French dropped some 20 bombs over the weekend. I read in the news that the US has dropped hundreds of bombs, maybe thousands, over the past year. I can't quite see how that's had an impact. This is not your father's or grandfather's war. WWII - At a certain point, the tide turned. It probably helped that there will literally millions of American and allied troops behind the 1940s equivalent of the surge. German soldiers and even the Nazi leadership saw the proverbial writing on the wall and surrendered or, in Hitler's case, killed himself. Does anyone see a comparable situation developing in 2015?

We have seen the failure of multiple wars over the past two decades. These have been largely responsible for what is occurring now. Can you imagine a new war, with a draft perhaps, in a renewed effort not to neutralize, but rather to eradicate this threat for generations to come, complete with a Marshall plan? Notwithstanding the jingoism, racism, and threats by Trump et al, we can't afford it, and at least half the nation will oppose it tooth and nail.

And even if there is an attack in the US, as some of the RW bloviators and fearmongers have shrieked will happen, I really can't see changing what I've just written.

[rtracey]

18. i agree

This will have the same impact as adding ground troops....ISIS will just run like rats from a sinking ship and blend into the neighborhoods.....too be seen ohh in 5-10 years when the troops leave.... You can't defeat ISIS this way.... too many willing too step in once one dies.

[Jean Genie]

16. Bad Guy

There now! Don't we all feel much, much better? The "Bad Guy" is dead.

Sorry, but I'm feeling extremely bitchin' sarcastic right now. The rhythmical thrumming of war drums on all the cable channels affects me that way.

Don't ask why shit like this happens, just crank up the weaponry and go kill some Muslims.

After all,. they're not "real people" like us - are they?

[MowCowWhoHow III]

17. Paris attacks 'mastermind' Abaaoud fate unknown - Molins

"Nothing to do with religion" boy's fate is still unclear

Paris attacks 'mastermind' Abaaoud fate unknown - Molins

The Paris prosecutor has said the fate of the suspected organiser of Friday's attacks remains unknown after a police raid on a flat ended in bloodshed.

Francois Molins told reporters Abdelhamid Abaaoud was not among eight people arrested during the raid in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis.

However, human remains found in the rubble of the flat had still to be identified, he said.

A woman blew herself up and another suspect was shot during the raid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34859082

[BootinUp]

20. k&r