Why It’s ‘likely’ That Some of the Paris Attackers Were Trained in ISIS Territory

Investigators still don't know the details of how terrorists were able to carry out separate, simultaneous attacks in Paris on Friday night.

But the complexity of the operation suggests that some of the assailants might have had training in the Middle East, experts say.

A group of eight terrorists took hostages, detonated suicide vests, and shot people in attacks across Paris on Friday night, killing 129 and wounding more than 300. Seven of the attackers are dead, but police are now seeking an eighth man they believe was involved in the attacks.

The careful coordination required to carry out simultaneous attacks in a major city with a well-developed antiterrorism system suggests that at least some of the attackers have experience and training, according to Will McCants, an expert on jihadism and author of the recent book, “The ISIS Apocalypse.”

… 

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a counterterrorism analyst and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, agreed with this assessment.

“If I were placing a bet, that’s where I would place my bet,” Gartenstein-Ross told Business Insider. “That would be my initial hypothesis that they had received some training. I think it's likely, but I don’t think it’s certain.”

“I still think it’s an open question,” Gartenstein-Ross said. “It could be that … [ISIS] didn’t order it and that some of their fighters carried it out without them having knowledge. It could have been that they gave a general order.”

… 

Read the full article here.