Chilling moment man who 'masterminded Paris terror attacks drags corpses to mass grave'

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This chilling footage appears to show the man thought to have masterminded the Paris terror attacks dragging corpses to a mass grave.
Abdelhami Abaaoud, 27, is believed to have been behind a series of attacks in the French capital on Friday, which claimed at least 129 lives.
A Belgian of Moroccan descent who travelled to Syria in 2013, Abaaoud is also thought to have had a hand in planning other atrocities across Europe.
In this short, but incredibly horrifying clip, he is seen apparently transporting mutilated bodies to a mass grave in an unspecified location.
At the beginning of the shaky footage, which appears to have been filmed from the back of a pickup truck, armed men in military garb travel towards buildings.

Chilling: Abdelhami Abaaoud speaks directly to the camera, smiling and laughing

Shocking: A man perches on a truck in an open field, though to be the site of a mass grave

The rundown area seems to be deserted, with debris strewn around.


Butchered corpses are seen lying on the dusty ground. Men drag them by the ankles.

Harrowing: Dead, mutilated bodies are strewn around on the dusty ground

Sinister: The corpses are transported by the men, sometimes dragged by the ankles

Then, sitting in the driver's seat of a 4x4 pickup truck, Abaaoud speaks directly to the camera in French, talking about "presents and gifts for people".
He also states that he is a follower of Islam.


The subsequent scenes show men in balaclavas, walking among the dead bodies behind the truck.
One man perches on the back of the truck in an open field or farmland, which presumably is the site of the mass grave, most likely in Syria.

'Mastermind': Abaaoud speaks of bringing "presents and gifts" for people

 

Radicalised: Abaaoud pictured in Syria with a gun earlier this year

Abaaoud is thought to have been behind the bombing and gun attacks at the Stade de France football stadium, Bataclan concert hall and restaurants in Paris late on Friday.
Having previously lived in the Molenbeek district of Brussels - which is known as the 'jihadi' capital of Europe - he is now believed to be in Syria.
RTL radio in France reported that he is “one of the most active Isis executioners” in Syria.
In an interview with ISIS propaganda magazine Dabiq, he said Allah had chosen him for a mission to "terrorise crusaders who bring war to Muslims", RTBF reported.

 

Threat: Abaaoud (l) travelled to Syria in 2013, followed by his younger brother

It has been reported that Abaaoud had links to thwarted attacks on a Paris-bound high-speed train in which heavily-armed Ayoub El Khazzani was overpowered by three American friends, two of them soldiers, in August.
Charlie Winter, a security analyst, told The Independent Abaaoud’s profile would fit that of someone capable of planning the massacres in Paris.
“He’s exactly the kind of people you would expect to plan something like this.
“You don’t go from never trying anything to masterminding an attack involving multiple attackers, multiple targets and multiple weapons.”
In pictures - horrific aftermath of Paris terror attacks :

 

He was named by Belgian police as being linked to a cell in the town of Verviers, where police shot dead three militants in January.
They were planning to kill Belgian police officers days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in an attack police believe was masterminded by Abaaoud.
Read more : Who is Abdelhamid Abaaoud? Suspect 'masterminded attacks from Syria'
The following month, Abaaoud was quoted in Dabiq as saying that he had secretly returned to Belgium to lead the terror cell and then escaped to Syria in the aftermath of the raid, despite having his picture broadcast across the news.

Getty Images

Suspect: Abaaoud has appeared in the ISIS magazine Dabiq

He boasted: "I was even stopped by an officer who contemplated me so as to compare me to the picture, but he let me go, as he did not see the resemblance!"
"He appears to be the brains behind several planned attacks in Europe," a source told Reuters, adding he is the most likely lead for the man behind Friday's attacks.
Abaaoud travelled to Syria in 2013 and was followed by his brother Younes, who was then 13.
Belgian newspapers have reported they are both the sons of a man named Omar, a shopkeeper who moved to the country from Morocco 40 years ago.