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Tag: Paris attack

  • Paris Attack Mastermind Pursued By French Police In St-Denis Raid, Gunshots, Explosions Heard

    The French police were involved in a shootout early Wednesday as part of an on-going police raid in St-Denis that is expected to capture the alleged Paris attack mastermind, as well as a “ninth attacker”.

    Suspected mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was previously believed to be staying in Syria, but is now based in France, is the main target of the operation.

    In addition, the authorities are also looking for Salah Abdeslam, who has been the subject of a “major manhunt” since Saturday, and reported “ninth attacker,” who has been sought by the police since Tuesday night.

    The town of St-Denis, which lies near the northern border of Paris, was the venue of the police operation on Wednesday.

    According to a BFMTV reporter, gunfire was first heard since at about 4:30 local time, and continued for more than two hours. The encounter between the police and the suspected terrorists took place in an apartment near Gabriel Péri. A woman inside the apartment reportedly detonated a suicide bomb amidst the gunfire, wounding officers. A “series of explosions” were also heard during the operation. “From our window, we could see lights, like fire or grenades… Then the helicopters arrived,” said a mother who was in the vicinity.

    Civilians and residents have been advised to stay away from the area or avoid leaving their homes. Public transport and the metro have been shut down in the area for safety.

    However, there were no available updates on whether the “massive” operation was successful or not. There were no details whether the targets were injured, captured, or negotiations are undergoing.

    The area where the operation is taking place is just over two kilometers from Stade de France, one of the major targets of a suicide bombing on Friday’s multiple terrorist attacks.

    The suicide bomber was not allowed to enter the stadium, and was forced to detonate the bomb outside. There had been a friendly football match between France and Germany at the time.

    A source reported that the operation includes a “special armed response unit” due to the fact that Europe is on high alert following the attacks on Friday that claimed 129 lives and injured hundreds more.

    French President François Hollande is set to hold a meeting on Wednesday to extend the country’s state of emergency to three months. Lawmakers would then vote for or against it on Thursday and Friday.

    Hollande has reportedly agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to coordinate regarding the two country’s attacks on the terrorist group.

    The two “agreed to assure closer contact and coordination between the military and security service agencies of the two countries in actions against terrorist groups… in Syria”, said the Kremlin.

    ISIS recently claimed responsibility for bombing a Russian jet last month that claimed the lives of more than 200 passengers.

    ISIS Celebrates Russian Jet Bombing Prior To Paris Attack

    Friday’s terrorist attacks have caused panic across the European nation and other neighboring countries. A scheduled football match in Germany was canceled due to the attacks, while two Air France flights from the United States were diverted.

    Investigators said that the terrorist attack was planned in Syria, and was “nurtured” in Belgium, where a few of the suspects, including the Paris attack mastermind, stayed. One of those is Abdeslam, together with two other suspects, who were stopped by the French police as they were driving to the Belgian border.

    Unfortunately, they hadn’t been on any of the suspect lists at the time, and so the officers let them go. His two comrades have since been captured, and only Abdeslam, of the three suspects in the car, remains at large.

    Meanwhile, France has already taken steps in retaliating against Islamic State, dropping 16 bombs on alleged strongholds and recruitment camps of the terrorist group.

  • Nohemi Gonzalez, U.S. Student Killed In Paris, Remembered As a ‘Beautiful Soul’

    Nohemi Gonzalez, the U.S. student killed in the Paris attack, was remembered by hundreds Sunday as a “beautiful soul.”

    Gonzalez was a 23-year-old Cal State Long Beach who had moved temporarily to Paris to study industrial design as an exchange student.

    Unfortunately, she was one of 18 killed Friday at a sidewalk bistro in Paris, where she and three friends were enjoying dinner. In total 129 were killed in the terrorist attack that stunned the world.

    On Sunday, hundreds gathered at the campus to mourn her death and remember her spirit, described as all at once creative, intelligent, observant and, befitting a designer, a bit playful.

    “Nohemi possessed a character that was truly rare,” Martin Herman, chairman of the university’s design department, told the crowd in the student union.

    “What I saw in her was a beautiful soul who practiced goodness and compassion in her friendships and relationships with others. She exuded such energy and enthusiasm and infused the entire department with these same qualities by virtue of her presence.”

    Beatriz Gonzalez, the mother of Nohemi, told the Los Angeles Times earlier in the day that her daughter was independent and was determined to carve out her own path.

    The family struggled financially and during her undergraduate studies, Beatriz said, her daughter balanced her classwork with two jobs, one at the Armani Exchange in a Cerritos shopping mall and another at her college’s laboratory.

    “She used to work all the time,” her mother said.

    Beatrice last time she saw her daughter was Sept. 1, the day she boarded a flight for Paris. She learned of her daughter’s death through a friend of a friend, reports the Times.

    Many friends and instructors spoke about the life of Nohemi Gonzalez, including her boyfriend of nearly four years, Tim Mraz, who sobbed as he recalled how they met as teaching assistants in shop class.

    “She ran that place, man, she owned it,” Mraz said. “She was first one in, last one out; there all night.”

    Visibly upset, Mraz thanked classmates, friends and the community for support before adding that she may be gone, but never forgotten.

    “She’ll always be with us,” Mraz said. “She’ll still be roaming these halls, like she always does.”