Paris terror: Was there a 10th attacker and how many are still on the run?

Mystery surrounds the identity of four of the suspects of the atrocity – and even the exact number of terrorists involved

21 people were arrested in 24 hours in counter-terror raids, however Europe’s most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam, appears to have slipped through the dragnet (Getty)

Eleven days after the attacks in Paris, mystery still surrounds the identity of four of the suspects – and even the exact number of terrorists involved. Investigators long thought that nine men, divided into three death squads, attacked the Paris area on 13 November. They now believe that 10 people may have been directly involved – plus the female jihadist killed last Thursday in the police siege of a house in Saint-Denis.

One of the attackers, Salah Abdeslam, is known to be on the run. At least eight of the others are dead.

Investigators believe that a “10th” attacker may have been the man, not yet identified, who blew himself up during the Saint-Denis siege. If not, there are two terrorists on the run, not one.

Here is what is known, and unknown, about those responsible for the worst terrorist attack on French soil since the Second World War.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud (AFP)

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28

The presumed operational commander of the attacks died in a hail of 5,000 police bullets in Saint-Denis on Thursday. The Belgian was thought to have been in Syria with Isis. How he reached Paris undetected is unknown. He was a member of the three-man gang that machine-gunned café and restaurant terraces on 13 November, killing 40 people.

Ibrahim Abdeslam, 31

A French citizen, living in Molenbeek, Belgium, he was also part of the restaurant gang. He later blew himself up on the Boulevard Voltaire. He was previously known as a petty criminal and bar owner, with vague Islamist sympathies.

Salah Abdeslam (AFP)

Salah Abdeslam, 26

Ibrahim’s brother fled to Brussels in the morning following the attacks after telephoning two friends and asking them to drive 200 miles to rescue him. Originally, he was thought to be the third member of the restaurant gang. Investigators now believe that he was the driver for the three Stade de France suicide bombers. He may have panicked, or rebelled, and failed to carry out a planned “fourth” attack in the 18th arrondissement in northern Paris.

Unknown 1

The third restaurant terrace attacker. He may also be the man who blew himself up during the Saint-Denis siege. What remains of his body has not yet been identified.

One of the unidentified men believed to have been involved in the Paris attacks (AFP)

Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29

One of the three men who fired on the crowd of rock-music lovers inside the Bataclan concert hall, killing 89 people and wounding scores of others. He blew himself up when police stormed the building. The Frenchman was identified from the print of a severed finger. He was under surveillance as an Islamist sympathiser but French security services lost trace of him after he returned from Syria in spring 2014.

Sami Amimour (AFP)

Sami Amimour, 28

Another Bataclan attacker, this French citizen was the target of an international arrest warrant after he fled possible terrorist charges in France in 2013. He was thought to be with Isis in Syria until his remains were identified as one of three attackers who blew themselves up at the Baticlan. How he returned to Europe unidentified is unknown.

Unknown 2

The third Bataclan attacker has yet to be identified. He has been described by hostages who survived as a “white man wearing glasses”.


 Bilal Hadfi 
 (AFP)

Bilal Hadfi, 20

Another French citizen, he was one of the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up outside, or close to, the Stade de France during a France vs Germany football friendly. Apart from the terrorists themselves, only one person died. Hadfi lived in Belgium and was thought to have joined Isis in Syria. How he returned without being spotted remains a mystery.

Unknown 3

The remains of the second Stade de France bomber were found close to an intact, fake Syrian passport in the name of Ahmad al-Mohammad. The real Mohammad was a Syrian soldier killed by Isis several months ago. From his fingerprints and photo, the suicide bomber is known to be a man who entered Greece from Turkey last month posing as a Syrian refugee. His real identity is unknown.

The second of the unidentified men believed to have been involved in the Paris attacks (AFP)

Unknown 4

The third Stade de France bomber is known from his fingerprints to have entered Greece on the same day as the man above. On Sunday night French police issued an identity picture, copied by Greek officials at the time, and asked anyone who recognised him to come forward.

Hasna Ait Boulahcen, 25

A French-born cousin of Abaaoud, the presumed leader of the Paris attacks, she also died in the hail of police bullets in Saint-Denis on Thursday. Contrary to initial reports, the former party girl, recently converted to radical Islam, did not blow herself up. She did not take part in the 13 November murders but she probably helped with the planning and logistics. It was through bugging and locating her mobile phone that investigators found Abaaoud’s hideout.