5 things to know about Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the Paris attacks

Son of a Belgian shopkeeper from Morocco, he has also recruited his brother to ISIS

As details about some of the persons involved in the Paris terror attacks begin to emerge, French officials have described 27-year old Abdelhamid Abaaoud as the “probable mastermind”.

Here are 5 things to know about Abaaoud, who was the son of a Moroccan immigrant to Belgium; his father said his son had turned his back on a ‘fantastic life’.

British newspaper The Independent reported that Abaaoud is the son of a shopkeeper originally from Morocco. His father Omar Abaaoud came to Belgium to work in a mine 40 years ago, and went on to own two clothing stores, one of which was run by Abaaoud. According to media reports, Abaaoud is said to have recruited his 13-year-old brother Younes into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Abdelhamid was well known to the Belgian Police as the head of a terrorist cell in Verviers, known as al-Battar Katiba, or the ‘sword of the prophets’, which was dismantled last January after a shootout in which two of its members were killed. Abaaoud was sentenced in absentia to 20 years along with 32 other jihadists.

Abaaoud reportedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to join the ISIS. He also appeared in a video driving a van dragging mutilated bodies to a mass grave. In Syria, he became known as Abu Omar Soussi or Abu Umar al-Baljiki, and appeared frequently in ISIS propaganda materials.

Abdelhamid is also believed to have helped plan the attack on Amsterdam-to-Paris train in August which was thwarted by passengers. According to a French jihadi arrested after returning from Syria this summer, Abaaoud had also planned an attack on a concert hall. He has also been involved in several armed robberies.