Molins won't confirm death of Paris suspect Abaaoud
"The inquiry that has been taking place has made considerable progress," Miolins said Wednesday. "A new team of terrorists has been neutralized," he added.
The remarks by Miolins came after anti-terror police and soldiers had flooded the streets of the Saint-Denis district. The operation lasted about seven hours and left two people dead, including a woman who police say blew herself up and a man hit by projectiles and grenades. Police made seven arrests, but Abaaoud was not among those arrested and Miloins would not rule out that he had been killed.
A police dog died in the operation. In a tweet, the National Police - the agency that had sent the dog into the building - reported the 7-year-old Belgian Malinois named Diesel "killed by terrorists." Four officer suffered minor injuries.
Abaaoud had previously bragged in propaganda for the "Islamic State" (IS) that he could move between Europe and Syria undetected.
'At war'
Three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the national stadium during a France-Germany soccer match on Friday. Two other teams of attackers targeted a rock concert at the Bataclan theater and popular night spots in a trendy Paris neighborhood.
On Wednesday, President Francois Hollande praised security services and said France was "at war" with IS, which has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris on Friday and wounded 350 others. Police killed seven of the eight attackers.
"It is the entire country that's been attacked," Hollande told a gathering of French mayors. "For what it represents, the fight we are leading to eradicate terrorism. And simply for what we are."
In his televised remarks, Hollande urged the nation not to "give in to fear" or extremist sentiments. "No anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim act can be tolerated," Hollande said.
mkg/jil (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
