(JTA) — The mastermind of last month’s Paris attacks also planned to strike Jewish targets, Reuters reported, citing sources close to the investigation.
The plans by Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, disclosed in a confidential police witness statement, were leaked last week to the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles, Reuters reported over the weekend.
According to the witness statement, Abaaoud asked his cousin Hasna Ait Boulahcen to hide him while he prepared more attacks following the multiple strikes Nov. 13 throughout Paris that killed at least 130 and wounded hundreds.
The attacks would target the Jewish community, the education system and the transportation system in Paris, according to the report citing Abaaoud.
Abaaoud told his cousin on Nov. 15 of the new attacks that “they would do worse (damage) in districts close to the Jews and would disrupt transport and schools,” according to the witness statement. He also reportedly asked his cousin to buy two suits and two pairs of shoes for him and an accomplice so they could blend in in the commercial district that he would target next.
Abaaoud and Boulahcen died on Nov. 18 in a shootout with police in St. Denis, a northern Paris suburb.
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