In targeting Abdelhamid Abaaoud in a raid, French authorities aimed to remove from Islamic State’s ranks a prominent figure who they said blended his battlefield experience in Syria with a network of associates in Europe to mastermind one of the bloodiest terror attacks in French history.
In Syria, the Belgian was a military commander, or “emir of war,” in eastern Deir Ezzour province, according to local activists and news reports, an unusually high rank for a fighter who hailed from Europe. Friends from his early life in Brussels, in the predominantly Muslim district of Molenbeek, recall a “nice guy” who played soccer.
In Paris, officials say the 28-year-old militant assembled a potent arsenal that he planned to deploy against multiple additional targets””including Paris’ La Defense business district””following the attacks that investigators say he coordinated against a stadium, concert hall and other locales, killing 129 people.
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(WSJ) Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Alleged Mastermind of Paris Attacks, Was ”˜Emir of War’ in Syria
In targeting Abdelhamid Abaaoud in a raid, French authorities aimed to remove from Islamic State’s ranks a prominent figure who they said blended his battlefield experience in Syria with a network of associates in Europe to mastermind one of the bloodiest terror attacks in French history.
In Syria, the Belgian was a military commander, or “emir of war,” in eastern Deir Ezzour province, according to local activists and news reports, an unusually high rank for a fighter who hailed from Europe. Friends from his early life in Brussels, in the predominantly Muslim district of Molenbeek, recall a “nice guy” who played soccer.
In Paris, officials say the 28-year-old militant assembled a potent arsenal that he planned to deploy against multiple additional targets””including Paris’ La Defense business district””following the attacks that investigators say he coordinated against a stadium, concert hall and other locales, killing 129 people.
Read it all.