(New York Times) Rukmini Callimachi - The arrest in Belgium of Salah Abdeslam offers a crucial opportunity to address the many unanswered questions surrounding how the Paris attacks were planned. A report compiled after the attacks by the French antiterrorism police, recently obtained by the New York Times, offered new perspectives about the plot. The attackers, sent by the Islamic State's external operations wing, were well versed in making suicide vests and staging coordinated bombings, while others led shooting sprees to hamper the police response. They exploited weaknesses in Europe's border controls to slip in and out undetected, and worked with a high-quality forger in Belgium to acquire false documents. French officials have repeatedly warned that more strikes are possible, and Western intelligence officials say their working assumption is that additional Islamic State terrorism networks are already in Europe.
2016-03-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive