Friday’s attacks in Paris which killed at least 129 people and injured more than 300, 99 of them seriously, were planned and organised from Syria, according to the French Prime Minister who says France is dealing with a terrorist army.
French aircraft have launched bombing missions over Raqqa, which is the Islamic State’s stronghold in Syria, targeting an ISIS command centre, recruitment centre, ammunition storage base and training camp.
Raids are being carried out on more than 150 militant targets in different areas of France, including Lyon, Toulouse, Grenoble and Calais under the State of Emergency. Large amounts of weapons reportedly have been found and several arrests made.
There is a Belgian connection to the attacks on Friday with 7 arrests made and a car used in the attacks was rented in Brussels.
Belgian media has named the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks as Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a returned Syrian jihadi who’s a 27 year old grocer’s son from the Belgian town of Molenbeek that has become a by-word for radicalism.
A worldwide manhunt is underway for a Belgian born French national suspected of being involved in Friday’s attacks. Abseslam Salah had been questioned by French police shortly after the attacks but then was released.
