Alleged Paris Attacks Coordinator Tracked by US-Led Coalition in Syria

A Belgian citizen, who allegedly played part in the deadly Paris terror attacks November 13, has been monitored in Syria by the anti-ISIL coalition prior to the massacre in France's capital, according to US media reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian citizen who allegedly helped coordinate the recent gun and bomb massacres in Paris, was tracked down in Syria by US-led coalition forces seeking to kill him, but they failed to precisely determine his location, US media reported Tuesday.

"An Islamic State operative suspected of helping plan the Paris attacks had been monitored in Syria by Western allies seeking to kill him in an airstrike, but they could not locate him in the weeks before the plot was carried out," unnamed Western security officials said, quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

According to the publication, Abaaoud left for Syria in January under surveillance as he was suspected of being directly involved in recruiting EU citizens for the Islamic State terrorist group.

On Monday, French media outlets named an alleged mastermind of the coordinated Paris attacks across seven locations that killed some 130 and injured 305, 99 critically.

Belgium-born Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was said to have overseen the deadly suicide bombings and gun attacks at a football stadium, a concert hall and several restaurants in Paris on November 13.