At least three of the key suspects in Friday’s attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people were on Belgian authorities’ radar before Friday, a Belgian federal prosecutor told CNN Tuesday.
In February, Belgian investigators questioned and released two brothers linked to Friday’s terrorist attacks, Ibrahim and Salah Abdeslam, prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said. Authorities also knew that suspect Bilal Hadfi had visited Syria, and were unaware he’d returned to Europe, Van der Sypt said.
French authorities are carrying out raids across the country to track down the network responsible for orchestrating the worst violence in France since World War II, while in neighboring Belgium and Germany, police have also arrested people suspected of connections to the Paris attacks.
Three teams of terrorists staged coordinated attacks at six locations throughout Paris late Friday, including a concert hall, the Stade de France and at least two restaurants.
It’s possible that suspects who were directly involved in the attacks remain at large, a French counterterrorism source close to the investigation told CNN.
The Paris attacks were planned in Syria and organized in Belgium, French President Francois Hollande said. Six of the Paris attackers spent time in Syria, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV in France.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacres and, in response, France has carried out airstrikes on targets in the militant organization’s stronghold in Raqqa, Syria.
As investigators piece together information about who could be on the loose, details are emerging about several of the seven attackers who authorities say were killed.
Here’s what we know about the suspected attackers:
Bilal Hadfi
Status: Dead
Residence: Belgium
Suspected of: Stadium suicide bombing (Stade de France)
Bilal Hadfi has been identified by several sources as one of the three suicide bombers who struck outside the Stade de France.
Hadfi, a Belgian resident who was 19 or 20 years old, is thought to have fought in Syria, where he went under the names Abu Moudjahid Al-Belgiki and Bilal Al Mouhajir, Belgian terror expert Guy van Vlierden said.
Hadfi appears to have traveled to Syria as recently as spring, van Vlierden said, citing analysis of Hadfi’s social media postings and other communications.
“What we didn’t know is apparently he was back, as he blew himself up in Paris. But we had no knowledge of the fact that he was back in Europe,” Van der Sypt said on Tuesday.
Hadfi is seen holding up his index finger in a screenshot from a now-deleted video post from his Facebook account calling for attacks on the West.
‘Ahmad al Muhammad’ (false name)
Status: Dead
Residence: Unknown; immigrated with Syrian refugees
Suspected of: Stadium suicide bombing (Stade de France)
One of three bombers who detonated themselves at the Stade de France late Friday arrived on the Greek island of Leros on October 3 among numerous Syrian refugees, according to a French senator who was briefed by the Ministry of the Interior.
This man held an emergency passport or similar document and falsely declared himself to be a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad, born on September 10, 1990, the senator said. The man was allowed to enter Greece and from there moved to Macedonia, then Serbia and Croatia, where he registered in the Opatovac refugee camp, the lawmaker said.
Eventually, he made his way to Paris.
Identity unknown
Status: Dead
Suspected of: Stadium suicide bombing
Not much is known about the third suicide bomber at the Stade de France. The French senator said two of those who detonated themselves at the stadium carried false Turkish passports.
Samy Amimour
Status: Dead
Suspected of: Bataclan concert suicide bombing
The Paris prosecutor’s office identified Samy Amimour, 28, as one of the suicide attackers who carried out the massacre at the Bataclan concert hall.
French anti-terrorism authorities had been aware of Amimour; he had been charged for “activities in collaboration with a terrorist enterprise” in 2012, the prosecutor’s office said.
He was placed under supervision in 2012 after anti-terrorism authorities investigated an aborted attempt to travel to Yemen, the statement said.
Amimour was known to have links to terrorists and had been the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2013 after violating the judicial supervision he had been placed under, the prosecutor’s office said.
Three of his relatives are in custody, it said.
Ismael Omar Mostefai
Status: Dead
Residence: Chartres, France
Suspected of: Bataclan concert suicide bombing
Ismael Omar Mostefai has been identified as one of the three suicide bombers armed with assault rifles at the Bataclan concert hall, where at least 89 people were killed.
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins described Mostefai as a 29-year-old French citizen with a criminal record. He’s from the southern Paris suburbs, Molins said. He was identified by fingerprints and was believed to have been radicalized in 2010 but had never been accused of terrorism, Molins said.
Mostefai lived in the French town of Chartres at least until 2012, according to Jean-Pierre Gorges, the mayor of Chartres, who is also a member of parliament.
Mostefai entered Turkey legally in 2013, a Turkish official said. The next year, France provided four names of terror suspects, and a subsequent investigation revealed Mostefai was associated with that group, the official said. In December 2014 and in June, Turkey requested more information on Mostefai, but France did not respond, the official said. There is no record of Mostefai leaving Turkey, the official said.
Identity unknown
Status: Dead
Suspected of: Bataclan concert suicide bombing
Not much is known about the third suicide bomber at the Bataclan concert.
Ibrahim Abdeslam
Status: Dead
Citizenship: French
Suspected of: Suicide bombing, cafe on boulevard Voltaire
Le Monde reported that Ibrahim Abdeslam was the suicide bomber who detonated near a cafe in eastern Paris. The Paris prosecutor’s office has identified that attacker as a 31-year-old French citizen but hasn’t disclosed his name.
Several people were injured in the attack, but only the bomber was killed.
According to Le Monde, Ibrahim Abdeslam rented the black Seat car that authorities say was used in the string of deadly attacks on restaurants and bars on Friday. It’s not yet clear whether he was in the vehicle at the time of the attacks, the newspaper said.
The Seat was found abandoned in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil with three Kalashnikov automatic rifles inside, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Sunday.
“Ibrahim tried to go to Syria and was sent back by the Turks in the beginning of 2015,” Van der Sypt told CNN. “It was after that that we questioned him.” Investigators released Ibrahim and his brother Salah Abdeslam in February after they denied they wanted to go to Syria.
A bar in Brussels, Belgium, registered to Ibrahim Abdeslam was shut down on suspicion of drug-related offenses eight days before the Paris attacks, the mayor of the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, Francoise Schepmans, told CNN on Tuesday.
Abdeslam’s brother Mohamed, who was detained over the weekend, questioned, then released, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday, “My brother [Ibrahim Abdeslam] who has participated in this terrorist attack was probably psychologically ready to commit such an act. These are not regular people. You cannot have the slightest doubt that they have been prepared, that they must not leave any trace which would cause suspicion that they might do such things. And even if you saw them every day, their behavior was quite normal.”
Salah Abdeslam
Status: On the loose
Citizenship: Belgium-born, French national
Suspected of: Unclear
Belgium has issued an international warrant for Salah Abdeslam, a Belgium-born French national, and French police released his photo, asking people to be on the lookout but warning not to interact with him, saying he is dangerous.
Salah Abdeslam had been questioned by French police earlier but was not detained, a source close to the investigation into the Paris attacks said.
He was driving toward the Belgian border when police stopped and questioned him a few hours after the attacks, the source said. Now, his whereabouts are unknown.
The vehicle that Salah Abdeslam was traveling in when he was stopped and questioned by French authorities after the Paris attacks was later found by Belgian authorities parked in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, where his family lives, said Van der Sypt.
Salah Abdeslam has also been tied to a black Renault Clio found in Paris’ 18th district Tuesday morning. Police sources say Salah rented that car, which bears Belgian plates.
Investigators haven’t said much about how they believe Abdeslam is tied to Friday’s terror attacks in the French capital.
Jean-Pascal Thoreau, a spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor, said Abdeslam is one of two brothers suspected of involvement in the attacks. One of the brothers — identified by Le Monde as Ibrahim Abdeslam — was killed in the attacks, and another was arrested by Belgian police, Thoreau said. That third brother, Mohamed, was not charged with any crimes, and was later released.
