According to a French official Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian, was the mastermind behind Friday’s brutal attacks in Paris.
And officials also believe he is linked to the attempted attack on a high-speed train back in August, which three American servicemen stopped, and another thwarted incident at a church in the Paris area, the Associated Press reported.
According to Mashable the official has direct knowledge of the investigation, but can’t be identified publicly as speaking about it.
Belgian media have reported that Abaaoud is thought to be in Syria.
Abaaoud, a former pupil of one of Brussels’ most prestigious high schools, gave a January interview to Dabiq, an English-language ISIS propaganda magazine, where he said he planned to “terrorize the crusaders waging war against the Muslims”.
He also recruited his 13-year-old brother, Younes Abaaoud, to join him in Syria.
Abaaoud’s dad Omar, a shopkeeper who migrated from Morocco, told The Telegraph his older son had been brainwashed into joining ISIS.
He told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws:
Abdelhamid has brought shame to our family. Our lives are equally destroyed. Why would he want to kill innocent Belgians? Our family owes everything to this country.
