Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud (centre), 27, is believed to have been the ringleader of last Friday's massacres which left 129 dead across the French capital. In a statement, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed that his body had been identified based on skin samples, ending hours of speculation around the world.
He died in a ferocious six-hour gun and grenade battle which saw 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired by police in the raid (right) in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Police (who continued to comb the scene for clues today, left) launched the operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surveillance and tip-offs suggesting that he was holed up there. His French-born cousin, Hasna Aitboulahcen, 27, was also believed to have been killed in the siege when she detonated her suicide vest, making her Europe's first ever female suicide bomber.
His body was so unrecognisable it has taken more than 24 hours for forensic tests to confirm he is now dead using DNA from his saliva.
Paris prosecutors said his body was 'riddled with bullets', adding that it was unclear whether Abaaoud had detonated a suicide belt.
Now the French authorities will have to explain how they allowed the known terrorist, who was thought to be in Syria, to operate so freely in their country, killing 129 people in the process.
'This is a major failing,' said Roland Jaquard, from the International Observatory for Terrorism.
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said France did not know before last week's deadly attacks that Abaaoud was in Europe, but said he was believed to be behind four of six attacks thwarted since spring by French authorities.
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Dead: Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris terror attacks, was killed in yesterday's dramatic police shoot-out, prosecutors have confirmed, ending 24 hours of speculation
Abdelhamid Abaaoud (left) died in a gun battle which saw 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired by police
French police forensics experts are seen outside the rue du Corbillon building in Saint-Denis, northern Paris on Thursday, 24 hours after a six-hour firefight between suspected ISIS extremists and police
Abaaoud died in a ferocious six-hour gun and grenade battle which saw 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired by police in the raid (above) in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, in the hunt for the Paris massacre suspects
He said: 'No information coming from European countries, where he could have transited before arriving in France, was given to us.
'It was only on November 16, after the Paris attacks, that an intelligence service outside Europe signalled that he had been aware of his presence in Greece.'
Abaaoud had previously bragged about travelling across Europe at will to plot atrocities – even after being arrested.
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