France launched airstrikes yesterday (early today in Malaysia) against the Islamic State in its stronghold of al-Raqqa in Syria, while in Belgium, a manhunt continued for a 26-year-old man thought to have played a role in the Paris terrorist attacks.
The French Defence Ministry said the campaign was a major bombardment involving 10 French planes that dropped 20 bombs, destroying a commando position where munitions were stored and a training camp for terrorists, the ministry said, according to the French news agency AFP.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, said France always has said it would be normal for it to react in self-defence.
"That's what we did today with the strikes on Raqqa. We can't let Daesh attack without a reaction," Fabius said, using an alternative name for Islamic State.
The targets were identified ahead of time by French reconnaissance, and the operation was carried out "in coordination with American forces," the ministry said.
The airstrikes come in retaliation for last Friday’s night of terror in the French capital, in which at least 132 people were killed and some 350 were injured.
French President Francois Hollande called the attacks an "act of war" and promised a "ruthless" response against Islamic State, which claimed responsibility.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes prompted the extremist militia to put its fighters in al-Raqqa on alert. No casualties have been reported, the monitoring group reported.
The French Air Force is a member of a US-lead coalition that has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since September 2014. Since September this year, France has participated several times in
bombing positions in Syria.
Manhunt for Abdeslam Salah
Belgium earlier today launched a manhunt for Abdeslam Salah, who is thought to have played a role in the terrorist attacks. Salah, a Frenchman who was born in the Belgian capital Brussels, reportedly is
one of three brothers that investigators are focusing on.
Authorities believe that three coordinated teams of terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs and explosive vests carried out the attacks. Seven assailants died in the violence.
One of the three brothers at the centre of the investigation was among the dead suicide bombers, while a second brother is in Belgian custody, although it was not immediately known if he had participated
in the attacks, the AFP news agency reported.
It said that the whereabouts of the third brother were unknown. He could be one of the dead suicide bombers or could be on the run, sources close to the investigation told the agency. This presumably
would be Abdeslam Salah.
A total of three attackers have been identified by French police, according to a statement issued by prosecutor Francois Molins in Paris last night.
The first to have been identified was a 29-year-old Frenchman who was among the attackers at the Bataclan, thanks to a print from one of his recovered fingers.
French media named him as Omar Ismail Mostefai. Seven of his relatives are in police custody for questioning, including his father and brother, French media reported. They were not believed to be
formal suspects.
A suicide bomber who blew himself up near the Stade de France has been identified as a 20-year-old, while a suicide bomber who targeted the Comptoir Voltaire restaurant has been found to be a 31-year-old, Molins said. Both were Frenchmen living in Belgium, the prosecutor said, without naming either by name.
Suspect passed borders as a refugee
Investigators have also been focusing on a Syrian passport belonging to a person born in September 1990 that was found near the body of another suicide Stade de France bomber. It has not yet been officially confirmed that the passport belonged to the suspect.
Authorities in Greece and Serbia said that the owner of the passport had passed through their countries in October as a refugee. The Serbian daily Blic has published what it said was a scan of the passport, showing the name of Ahmad Almohammad, 25.
There had long been warnings that terrorists may try to infiltrate migrant flows making their way from Turkey to Western Europe, which are mostly made up of Syrian asylum seekers.
The Stade de France suicide bombers had wanted to detonate themselves inside the stadium, where a France-Germany football match was under way, AFP quoted Secretary of State Thierry Braillard as saying. They did not get in because they did not have tickets, the French sports daily L'Equipe reported.
Investigators also say two cars used in the Paris attacks were found to have been rented in Belgium.
A Volkswagen Polo was found near the Bataclan had parking tickets inside that led investigators to the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, the France Info broadcaster reported.
There has been conflicting information about whether the man who rented the Polo is among seven people who have been taken into custody by Belgian authorities. The renter was one of the three
bothers, according to France Info.
Another car rented in Belgium and believed to have played a role in the attacks was found in Paris near the Pere Lachaise cemetery, prosecutors told the Belga news agency on Sunday. Belgian Justice
Minister Koen Geens has said that this was a Seat car.
French media also reported Sunday that police recovered a black Seat in the eastern suburb of Montreuil. Kalashnikov rifles similar to the ones used last Friday's violence were found inside.
A Seat car is believed to have been used during the Paris attacks by gunmen who opened fire on people sitting outside several cafes and restaurants.
- dpa
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