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Second Paris attacker believed to be at large

November 18, 2015

A CCTV video showing three suspected terrorists shooting at a Paris café has led French police to believe that a second assailant could be at large. Suspect Salah Abdeslam is already being hunted internationally.

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French police
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker

The surveillance video reportedly shows two black-clad gunmen with automatic weapons calmly firing on the bar in La Fontaine au Roi street, before slowly returning toward a waiting car, whose driver was maneuvering behind them.

French newspaper "Le Monde" also reported online that witnesses saw three people in the car that the terrorists used to attack restaurants and bars in the east of Paris last Friday.

Three French officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed with AFP news agency that analysis of last Friday's attacksm indicated that one additional person directly involved in the assault remains unaccounted for, bringing the total number of suspects to nine.

International manhunt

An international manhunt is currently underway for 26-year-old suspect Salah Abdeslam. His brother Brahim blew himself up during the attacks.

The brothers were both affiliated with the "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist group, which has claimed responsibility for last Friday's suicide bombings and shootings. The three teams of terrorists left 129 deople dead and more than 350 injured across the French capital.

Arrests in western Europe

More than a dozen people have been arrested in Belgium and France since Friday and investigators say they're searching for other members of the sleeper cell that carried out the deadly attacks.

Police near the western German city of Aachen also arrested seven people on suspicion of terrorism on Tuesday. The group were released without charge shortly after, however. A police spokesmen said authorities had no specific information to link the seven to last week's attacks in Paris.

ksb/bw (AFP, dpa)