2 dead in raid targeting Paris attack mastermind, latter’s fate unclear

PanARMENIAN.Net - A woman suicide bomber blew herself up and another militant died on Wednesday, November 18, when police raided an apartment in the Paris suburb of St. Denis seeking suspects in last week's attacks in the French capital, Reuters reports.

Officials said police had been hunting Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian Islamist militant accused of masterminding the November 13 carnage, but more than seven hours after the launch of the pre-dawn raid it was still unclear if they had found him.

Seven people were arrested in the operation, which started with a barrage of gunfire, including three people who were pulled from the apartment, officials said.

"It is impossible to tell you who was arrested. We are in the process of verifying that. Everything will be done to determine who is who," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said at the end of the operation.

Molins said later that authorities are working to determine the fate of the suspected mastermind of last week's Paris attacks after a seven-hour police raid on an apartment where he was believed to be hiding.

Molins said the assault was ordered after phone taps and surveillance operations led police to believe that Abaaoud might have been in St. Denis, near to the soccer stadium which was site of one of the attacks that hit Paris last week.

Two police sources say investigators believe the St. Denis group had been planning an attack on the French capital's La Defense business capital.

Three police officers and a passerby were injured in the assault. A police dog was killed.