Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Abdelhamid Abaaoud
Abaaoud holding the Quran and an Islamic State flag
Born8 April 1987
Anderlecht, Belgium
Died18 November 2015(2015-11-18) (aged 28)
Saint-Denis, France
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
Nationality
  • Belgium
  • Morocco
Other namesAbdel-Hamid Abu Oud
Known forBrussels Islamic State terror cell
November 2015 Paris attacks
Military career
AllegianceIslamic State
Battles / warsSyrian Civil War (2014–15)

Abdelhamid Abaaoud (Arabic: عبد الحميد ابعود, romanized: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ʾAbā ʿŪd; 8 April 1987 – 18 November 2015) was a Belgian-born Islamic terrorist who had spent time in Syria and was suspected of having organized multiple terror attacks in Belgium and France, and is known to have masterminded the November 2015 Paris attacks. Prior to the Paris attacks, there was an international arrest warrant issued for Abaaoud for his activities in recruiting individuals to Islamic terrorism in Syria.

Abaaoud was also known as Abu Omar Soussi (Arabic: أبو عمر السوسي, meaning "Abu Omar the Susian", his Moroccan family's place of origin) and as Abu Omar al-Baljīkī (Arabic: أبو عمر البلجيكي, meaning Abu Omar the Belgian), both of which were noms de guerre.

He died from wounds received during an armed raid conducted by French authorities in the suburb of Saint-Denis in north Paris.