Suspected Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud confirmed dead

BRUSSELS, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected Islamic State mastermind behind the deadly Paris attacks, was killed in a police raid, fingerprint analysis confirmed Thursday.

Abaaoud's body was found riddled with bullets and shrapnel, BBC News reported.

French commandos targeted Abaaoud, 27, during a raid Wednesday morning in the Saint-Denis Paris suburb. A young woman, initially identified as Abaaoud's cousin, possibly blew herself up during the operation.

Abaaoud was reportedly killed by a police sniper. Five police officers were injured and a 7-year-old police dog named Diesel was killed in the battle.

The confirmation of Abaaoud's death comes as police in Belgium conducted seven raids in Brussels in the search for suspected Paris attackers.

One unidentified person was arrested in the raids within and around Brussels in properties linked to Bilal Hadfi and Salah Abdeslam, alleged Islamic State Paris attackers. Most raids took place in properties linked to Hadfi in the Jette and Molenbeek districts.

Another raid took place at the district of Laeken at an address connected to Abdeslam, who is thought to be on the run. Hadfi died during the Paris attacks on Friday that killed 129 people. The Islamic State -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL -- claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks.

The French National Assembly on Thursday approved a state of emergency extension for three months that will move to the Senate on Friday, where approval is expected.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls addressed the National Assembly before the vote, warning of the "macabre imagination" of the Islamic State, which results in attacks with "assault rifles, beheadings, suicide bombers, knives or all of these at once."

"Terrorism hit France not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria ... but for what it is," Valls told the lawmakers, adding that "there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons."

A spokesman for France's prime minister's office elaborated on Valls' comments, stating the prime minister's warning of a potential chemical weapons attack was not "not new information on the status of the threat, just a realistic observation."

"Middle East experts know that Daesh [Islamic State] seeks and uses chemical weapons," the spokesman told Le Monde. "To not consider this possibility would be a mistake."

The security bill will not only extend the state of emergency, but allow authorities to put anyone deemed a public threat under house arrest, prevent suspects from communicating with one another and allow police to carry out searches at any time without judge approval if the public is believed endangered.

France has destroyed 35 Islamic State targets in Syria since the Paris attacks, dropping 60 bombs on six IS positions, Islamic State command centers or training locations.

The IS recently warned of attacks in the United States, specifically in Washington D.C. and New York City, following the attacks in Paris.