TEL AVIV – The mastermind of the November 2015 Paris attacks told an acquaintance that he was the commander of 90 “kamikazes-in-waiting” who infiltrated Europe to carry out terrorist attacks, according to information contained in a 55-page report compiled by French anti-terrorism officials.
The report was leaked to the New York Times, which published the startling details on Saturday. The report is newly relevant in light of the Islamic State’s Tuesday terror attacks in Brussels that killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 270 others.
The French report included details of a meeting between the Paris mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud; his first cousin, 26-year-old Hasna Aitboulahcen; and a friend of Aitboulahcen’s.
The Times reported:
On Nov. 15, [Aitboulahcen] and a friend drove out to a remote spot along the freeway, where Mr. Abaaoud came out of the bushes and joined them, the report said, quoting the account of the friend.
According to the friend’s account to the police, Mr. Abaaoud regaled them with stories about how he had made it to Europe by inserting himself in the stream of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean. He explained that he was among 90 terrorists who had made it back and who had gone to ground in the French countryside, the friend told the police.
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