French authorities were unable to confirm on Thursday whether the alleged mastermind behind the Paris attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud had been killed, committed suicide or was still at large. On Wednesday, French forces had launched a 7-hour operation at a flat in the town of Saint Denis, where a group of terrorist involved in the attacks were thought to be holed up. Abaaoud was believed to be among them. The Guardian on Thursday reported that two people were killed in the siege, one remains unidentified and the other was Hasna Aitboulahcen, Abaaoud’s cousin, who blew herself up with a suicide vest. Eight people were arrested, but Abaaoud was not among them, Paris prosecutor François Molins said on Thursday, according to CNN.
On Wednesday, French ambassador to India Francois Richier said he had received preliminary reports that Abaaoud was likely to have killed himself. However Molins told journalists at the end of the raid that it was still unclear whether he had been in the flat at all. The apartment was located just two kilometres away from the the Stade de France, the stadium where one of the attacks took place. More than 129 people were killed in the series of bombings and shootings on Friday.
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