French police have said that this morning’s raids in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis came just in time, as the suspects were about to carry out ‘some kind of operation’.
The names of the people detained have not yet been released, but according to Associated Press there were seven arrests, although only three of the people arrested were in the apartment that was the focus of the raids.
There were also two confirmed deaths. A female terrorist blew herself up using a suicide belt, and a man who was reportedly wanted in connection with Friday’s attacks was shot by a police sniper.
The authorities were led to the address in Saint-Denis by phone surveillance that indicated Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, was there, CNN reported.
It’s not yet clear whether Abaaoud was among the people arrested or killed.
But the raids potentially thwarted another attack, with French police sources telling CNN they came ‘just in time’, and that the suspects were ‘about to move on some kind of operation’.
President Hollande said that this morning’s incident in Saint-Denis was further proof that ‘we are at war’ with ISIS.
