"We are dealing with a new quality of Islamic terrorism in Europe," a source in Germany's security services told the newspaper, which has put together a picture of the terrorist cell that carried out the attacks, from commanders to subordinates.
The leader of the Paris attackers is thought to be 28-yar-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national of Moroccan descent who was killed in an anti-terror raid a few days after the Paris attacks.
Abaaoud grew up in the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels that is known for being home to groups of Islamic radicals. In 2013 he traveled to Syria and joined Daesh, after which he appeared in several jihadist propaganda videos under the pseudonym Abu Omar al-Baljiki.
Moroccan born Belgian national Najim Laachraoui, 24, also known as Soufiane Kayal, was the terror cell's explosives expert. He blew himself up in the suicide bombing at Brussels airport on March 22, as did Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29. Bakraoui's brother Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, attacked a train at Maelbeek station.
Der Spiegel refers to the El Bakraoui brothers as the "organizers" of the attacks, who had also rented the apartment in which Salah Abdeslam, who organized the Paris attacks, hid from the security services until his arrest on March 18.
"Probably the most important logistician of the group was Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last Friday. He drove across Europe to collect conspirators, most often in German mid-range rented cars. It is presumed that they had arrived in the European Union posing under a false identity as refugees."
"At the beginning of October he picked up three Syrians from a hotel in Ulm (Germany). A month earlier he picked up Najim Laachraoui in Budapest. According to Spiegel's sources, in mid-September 2015 he made another trip to the Hungarian capital in a rented Audi A6. The reason for the trip is as yet unclear."
Der Spiegel describes the third category of terrorist as "the ones who took the orders."
These include Mohammad Almahmod and Ahmad Almohammad, who blew themselves up close to the Stade de France in Paris on November 13. Both of these terrorists had traveled through the Balkan route to Europe using fake Syrian passports; a Daesh propaganda report claimed that they were Iraqi nationals.
"Belgian Bilal Hafdi, 20, who blew himself up outside the Stade de France, can be counted as among the lowest level of operative. It is possible that he had been injured when he was fighting as a jihadist in Syria."
Charaffe El Mouadan, 26, and Samir Bouabout, 28, are thought to be members of the terrorist cell who are currently in Syria, so far evading the efforts of authorities to capture them.
"In El Mouadan's case it is probably more of a precaution. The Islamist is thought to have been killed in December in a drone attack."
They grew up in Drancy, a suburb of Paris, along with Samy Amimour, who was one of three suicide attackers at the Bataclan concert hall on November 13.
"In January a French court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist group. He also has a dark criminal past, and his radicalization began when he was serving time in prison for attempted murder," Spiegel reported.
