Suicide bomber in post-attacks police raid was Belgian-Moroccan: Paris prosecutor

AFP , Thursday 14 Jan 2016

A suicide bomber who blew himself up during a huge police raid following the militant attacks in Paris was a Belgian-Moroccan man who is also suspected of being one of the gunmen in the November rampage, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Chakib Akrouh, 25, was identified from DNA matched to his mother, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said in a statement.

Akrouh was holed up in an apartment in the suburb of Saint-Denis with the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abelhamid Abaaoud, who is also a Belgian of Moroccan origin, when police rained 5,000 rounds of ammunition on the building.

Both men were killed in the dawn raid on November 18, five days after the Paris attacks.

A woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen, who is thought to have been Abaaoud's cousin, also died.

Prosecutors initially mistakenly said she was the suicide bomber, before later correcting their account.

The attacks in the French capital on November 13 killed 130 people, with gunmen and suicide bombers launching a coordinated series of attacks on bars, restaurants, a packed concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

The Islamic State (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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