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France Launches New Airstrikes on ISIS in Syria Belgian Suspect in Paris Attacks Was Target of Airstrikes on ISIS in Syria
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — France launched a new round of airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State early on Tuesday morning and conducted new raids against suspects in France. PARIS — The Belgian man suspected of being the plotter of the Paris terror attacks was a target of Western airstrikes on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, as recently as last month, a European security official said on Tuesday.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement that 10 French fighter jets had taken off from bases in Jordan and elsewhere in the region, dropping 16 bombs at 1:30 a.m. Paris time on an Islamic State command center and a training facility, destroying them both. The man, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, a fighter for the Islamic State, is believed to have escaped to Syria from Belgium after the authorities in January foiled another terrorist plot, which had targeted the eastern Belgian city of Verviers, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.
According to the ministry, the command center that was destroyed included “one of Daesh’s headquarters,” using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL. Federal prosecutors in Belgium on Tuesday charged two men — Hamza Attou and Mohamed Amri, both Belgian citizens — with participation in a terrorist activity or organization, in connection with Friday’s attacks. They were among seven men arrested on Saturday; the other five have been released.
The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, told France Info radio that the police had conducted 128 raids overnight against terrorism suspects. Both men live in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, which was a base for Mr. Abaaoud and was the site of an intense manhunt on Monday for Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of having been one of the attackers in Paris.
France’s response to the assaults continued on Tuesday. French warplanes bombed targets in Raqqa early in the morning, the Defense Ministry said, destroying what it described as an Islamic State command center and a training center.
The ministry said in a statement that 10 fighter jets had taken off from bases in Jordan and from the Persian Gulf, dropping 16 bombs at 1:30 a.m. Paris time on the Islamic State targets, destroying both. The French account could not immediately be independently confirmed.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told France Info radio that the police had conducted 128 raids in France overnight against terrorism suspects.
Mr. Cazeneuve also said that 115,000 police officers and troops had been deployed across the country “to ensure the protection of the French.”Mr. Cazeneuve also said that 115,000 police officers and troops had been deployed across the country “to ensure the protection of the French.”
In Belgium, the authorities on Tuesday identified two men who were detained in connection with the deadly attacks in Paris. The new details of the hunt for Mr. Abaaoud and the failure of the airstrikes to kill him are the latest evidence of how many of those suspected of having taken part in the Paris attacks were known to the authorities beforehand.
Federal prosecutors identified the men as Hamza Attou and Mohamed Amri, both of whom are Belgian citizens, but they did not provide any additional details about their connection to the attacks or what charges they might face. In Washington, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Monday that some American officials suspected that Mr. Abaaoud may still be in Syria.
They were part of a group of seven people who were arrested on Saturday in Belgium; the other five have been released. Mr. Abaaoud was most likely part of an Islamic State cell that has developed over the past year to help plan, organize and execute terrorist attacks in Europe, and, in particularly in France, Mr. Schiff, who receives regular intelligence briefings, said in a telephone interview.
Both men live in the district of Molenbeek, a suburb of Brussels, which has proved to be a focal point in the investigation into the broader attacks and was the site of an intense search on Monday for Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian who is believed to be the leader of the plot. The cell is believed to be led by Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who also serves as an official spokesman for the Islamic State, a Pentagon official said on Monday.
Even as the contours of the plot and its organizers started to emerge, Mr. Schiff warned that much was still unknown about how much of the plot was directed from Syria, and how much autonomy had been left to conspirators in France, Belgium and perhaps elsewhere. “There are some very large missing parts,” he said.
France remained in a state of emergency on Tuesday, the third and final day of official mourning.
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a hastily arranged trip to Paris to show solidarity, said the United States and France had no choice but to wage war against the Islamic State, the apocalyptic militant group that purports to have restored a caliphate, or a global Muslim community under a single leader.
“This is just raw terror to set up a caliphate,” Mr. Kerry said before separate meetings with President François Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. “This is not a situation where we have a choice. We’re not choosing to randomly go to war. We’re trying to avoid it, trying to find a better path.”
Mr. Kerry reiterated President Obama’s observation, a day earlier, that suicide bombings were impossible to completely prevent. “If somebody is willing to die — if you want to go die on any given day – unfortunately, you can take some people with you.” Four Americans were wounded in the attacks on Paris.
After meeting with Mr. Hollande, Mr. Kerry said he would be back in Paris shortly to attend a global climate change conference, scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
“Paris, which knows how to rebound, will do so,” Mr. Kerry said. “No one will interrupt the business of the global community, certainly not despicable, cowardly acts of terror.”