Abaaoud, the 28-year-old Islamic State militant from Brussels of Moroccan origin, was believed to be inside the apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with five other heavily-armed people when the raids started, according to a French police official.
“According to information I have, yes he committed suicide during the operation,” Richier told a television channel. The Ambassador was asked whether Abaaoud was arrested or killed during the seven-hour raids in the massive hunt for the suspected mastermind of the gun and bomb rampage last Friday in which at least 129 people were killed. “I have information which leads us to suspect that he committed suicide. I have nothing, no particular documents to say that. That is the first indication we have received,” Richier said.
“We are waiting for final confirmation that Abdelhamid Abaaoud is dead,” he said.
The Ambassador replied in the affirmative when asked wasn’t this a big development. “Indeed,” he responded.
Earlier on Wednesday, a woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban Paris apartment where the suspected mastermind of last week’s gun and bomb rampage was believed to be holed up, police said. They said one man was also killed and seven people arrested in the standoff, which began before dawn and continued more than six hours later, when a loud bang rang out around the streets near the apartment building.
Police said one person was thought to be still inside the apartment, but it wasn’t clear who. Another police official not authorised to be publicly named because of police rules said four police officers were injured. No hostages were being held. The Paris prosecutor’s office said SWAT teams arrested three people in the apartment. It said they haven’t been identified yet. Another man and woman were detained nearby, the office said in a statement.
French President Francois Hollande held an emergency meeting with senior ministers at the Elysee Palace to monitor the raid. Residents said an explosion shook the neighbourhood shortly after 4 am.
“We guessed it was linked to Friday night,” said Yves Steux, barman at L’escargot restaurant 250 meters (yards) from the assault. “My wife panicked and was scared and told me not to leave, but I ignored her. Life goes on.”
Baptiste Marie, a 26-year-old independent journalist who lives in the neighborhood, said a second large explosion was followed by “two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire.” Another witness, Amine Guizani, said he heard the sound of grenades and automatic gunfire.