BERLIN (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, French media reported that the Friday's Paris attacks were coordinated by Abaaoud, a 27-years-old Belgian citizen of Moroccan origin, who used to be the leader of a Islamic State (ISIL) militant group’s cell.
Their plans were ruined by the January counter-terrorist raid by Belgian and French police that stormed their hideout in the eastern Belgian town of Verviers, Abaaoud said, adding that he manage to escape the police and flee to the ISIL-controlled territory of the Middle East.
On Friday night, several extremists wearing explosive belts attacked public venues across Paris, killing some 130 and injuring hundreds of people at restaurants of the French capital, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France.
