UPDATE 11/19/15:
French prosecutors have now confirmed the death of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, according to the Associated Press. He was reportedly found "in an apartment building targeted in the raid in Saint-Denis north of Paris Wednesday," authorities claim. Abaaoud's identity was later confirmed via skin samples. Abaaoud is also believed to be behind "4 of 6 attacks" thwarted since spring 2015.
See original story from 11/18/15 below.
Following the ongoing manhunt to apprehend individuals still at large for Friday's horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, authorities report that a massive police raid in the Saint-Denis suburb has left two dead, one of whom is thought to have orchestrated last week's attacks at sites throughout the Paris capital.
The Washington Postreports two senior European intelligence officials who spoke with the Post on the condition of anonymity claim a seven-hour raid on Wednesday resulted in the death of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, thought to be the mastermind behind Friday's tragic events, as well as another individual. More than 100 police and soldiers reportedly stormed the building after officials had been informed of Abaaoud's whereabouts. It was thought that he could be plotting another attack at the Charles de Gaulle Airport and a local shopping mall, according to French publications quoted by the Daily News.
"It was not immediately clear how Abaaoud died — whether in police gunfire, by his own hand or in a suicide blast triggered by a woman in the apartment," says the Post. The other individual who died in the siege was a woman, believed to be a relative of Abaaoud, who detonated an explosive vest.
The Post reports that the raid "appeared to have been aided by another potential breakthrough in the probe: the discovery of a mobile phone in a garbage can near the Bataclan Concert Hall, the site of one of Friday’s assaults."
Head here for the full Post report.
