French and other Western intelligence agencies face an urgent challenge to track down the surviving members of the three ISIS units who inflicted the unprecedented bloodshed in France and, perhaps more importantly, to target their distant commanders in ISIS-controlled parts of Syria.
A French security official said anti-terror intelligence officials had identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as chief architect of the attacks on a rock concert, a soccer game and popular nightspots in one of Paris’ trendiest districts.
The official cited chatter from ISIS figures that Abaaoud had recommended a concert as an ideal target for inflicting maximum casualties, as well as electronic communications between Abaaoud and one of the Paris attackers who blew himself up.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation.
Abaaoud came to public attention last year by boasting in an ISIS propaganda video about his pride in piling the dead bodies of “infidel” enemies into a trailer. Anti-terror agencies previously linked him to a series of abortive shooting plots this year in Belgium and France, including a planned attack on a passenger train that was thwarted by American passengers who overpowered the lone gunman.
French police have used emergency powers to conduct almost 300 searches since Sunday night that netted 127 arrests and 31 weapons.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday that police carried out 128 police raids overnight, as he conceded that “the majority of those who were involved in this attack were unknown to our services.”
Police have seized a Kalashnikov assault rifle, three automatic pistols and a bulletproof vest from a suspected arms dealer with jihadist sympathies, and a rocket launcher and other military-grade gear from his parents’ home.
But police have yet to announce the capture of anyone suspected of direct involvement in Friday’s slaughter. Seven attackers died—six after detonating suicide belts and a seventh from police gunfire—but Iraqi intelligence officials told The Associated Press that its sources indicated 19 participated in the attack and five others provided hands-on logistical support.
