In the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, French police have reportedly raided 168 different locations across the country and detained 23 people. As France is currently under a state of emergency that provides "special powers" to local law enforcement, the search for members of the terrorist cell responsible for the attacks continues to intensify. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also confirmed the recovery of a Kalashnikov and "other weapons" during the raids, according to the Associated Press.
Belgian authorities launched a "major operation" of their own in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, considered an area with a heavy presence of extremists passing from Belgium to Syria. According to CNN, police blocked roads in the region and surrounded a building before using a megaphone to order someone to vacate the premises.
France’s airstrikes on Sunday night are said to have destroyed a jihadi training camp and a "munitions dump" in Raqqa, where intelligence officials in Iraq believe the Paris attacks were hatched. A total of 20 bombs were reportedly dropped via twelve different aircraft, a Defense Ministry statement revealed. The aircraft, including 10 fighter jets, were launched from sites in Jordan and the Persian Gulf "in coordination with" American forces.
French officials have reportedly identified several suspected attackers, including one "key suspect" who is believed to still be on the loose: Salah Abdeslam, the brother of Brahim Abdeslam, who detonated himself on the Boulevard Voltaire. On Monday, one of the suicide bombers who detonated himself in the Bataclan music hall during an Eagles of Death Metal performance was identified as 28-year-old Frenchman Samy Amimour. Amimour, who reportedly "dropped off" law enforcement’s radar two years ago, was previously charged in a terrorism investigation in 2012. The suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks has been named as Abdelhamid Abaaoud, according to the AP. Abaaoud is a Belgian who was also linked to the halted attacks on a Paris train earlier this year.
Peace for Paris.
