French police have released seven of the eight people rounded up during the deadly siege in which the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was killed, according to Reuters, which cited a judicial source.
The Islamic State jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, one of the group’s most high-profile European recruits, died during the police assault along with a woman believed to be his cousin and a third person yet to be identified.
During the raid police took in eight people for questioning – five from inside the building in the northern suburb of St-Denis and three from outside. A man who said he was in charge of the property was believed to be still being held.
A source close to the investigation said the five from inside who had been freed were believed to be squatters without proper identity papers, while a man and a woman picked up outside had also been released.
France has launched a massive investigation after the massacres that killed 130 people in Paris on 13 November. Investigators believe Abaaoud, a Moroccan-born Belgian who had fought for Islamic State in Syria, was the mastermind behind the shootings and bombings at the national soccer stadium, a famous concert venue and several bars and restaurants.
Police tracked Abaaoud to the apartment in St-Denis by following Hasna Aitboulahcen, a woman who may have been his cousin and whose phone was being tapped as part of a drugs investigation.
Brussels, the Belgian capital, remained on high alert on Sunday as the hunt continued for another of the alleged conspirators, Salah Abdeslam, 26, amid fears he is hiding out in the city.
With Reuters
