Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Three people have been reported dead amid shooting and explosions in Saint Denis, a northern Suburb of Paris, as French police are working to hunt down people suspected of involvement in last week's series of deadly attacks.

Bulgaria advised on Tuesday its citizens travelling to Belgium or staying there to be vigilant regarding potential terrorist attacks.

Anti-terror squads are on a huge manhunt for accessories of the Paris Attacks on Friday, November 13, with investigations in many countries around Europe, mainly France, Belgium and Greece. The course of the jihadists who struck against civilians is being traced through these three regions and police are scouring areas in these countries with surgical precision.

Abdel Hamid Abaaoud’s interview with ISIS magazine Dabiq eight months ago focused on the jihadist’s activities in Europe and also focused on Greece.

Dabiq: Why did you choose Belgium?

Belgian media named Abdel Hamid Abaaoud, a returning Syrian jihadi, as the mastermind of the Paris attacks. Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, cited Belgian sources to outline the role of Abaaoud, a grocer’s son from the Belgian town of Molenbeek, as the radical extremist who was the brains behind the attack.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls revealed April 23 that five terror attacks had been "foiled" in France in recent months.

Six French citizens have had their passports confiscated and 40 more will be banned from leaving the country after allegedly planning to travel to Syria and Iraq, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Feb. 23.      

It is the first time the measure has been used in France following its introduction as part of a raft of new counter-terrorism laws in November.        

A 33-year-old Algerian man with suspected links to the jihadist cell dismantled by Belgian security forces last week agreed on Jan. 20 to be extradited from Greece, a justice source said.
      
The suspect "wants to prove his innocence" and a Greek prosecutor has also agreed to meet Belgium's request for the extradition, the source said.        

A 33-year-old Algerian man is due to appear before a prosecutor on Monday after being arrested over the weekend as part the investigation that followed a raid on a suspected Islamist cell in Belgium a few days earlier.

Europe was on high alert on Jan. 19 as the suspected mastermind of a jihadist cell in Belgium remained at large and jittery authorities blocked anti-Islamist rallies in Germany and France.