Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind behind the Paris attacks, died during a major police raid in a northern suburb of the French capital.

Officials confirmed Abaaoud was the target of the operation that developed into a siege in St Denis on Wednesday, as more details emerged about the man thought to have arranged the shootings which killed 129 people on Friday night.

Now a prominent member of Isis, Abaaoud first travelled to Syria last year - but seemingly not out of any great religious motivation.

"He did not even go to the mosque,” his older sister Yasmina told the New York Times earlier this year.

Like many who travel to the so-called “Islamic State”, his actions appear to have been motivated more by a thirst for power, violence and unaccountability.

Who was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, mastermind of the Paris attacks?

Abaaoud, in his late 20s, was born in Belgium and grew up in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, which has become a key focus for investigators in recent days.

He briefly studied at an exclusive Catholic school, before either dropping out or getting expelled and drifting into a life of thievery and drugs.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud boasted of his escape from authorities in Belgium following a failed terrorist attack in an interview published in Isis' propaganda magazine in February (Dabiq)

According to his family, the young man showed much more interest in petty crime than Islam, and they were shocked when he took his 13-year-old brother Younes with him to travel to Syria in January 2014.

After he was trained and further radicalised in Syria, Abaaoud was able to return to Europe via Athens. He was picked up by European security services and reportedly even stopped by police but let go, after which he disappeared.

Officials identified the suspected mastermind as Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan origin in his late twenties

In February, he gave an interview to the Islamic State English-language magazine Dabiq which suggested he was in Syria.

In the interview he claimed he had travelled to Belgium to "terrorise the crusaders waging war against the Muslims".

He also claimed a police officer who stopped him had failed to recognise him even after his picture had been sold to the media.

In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Show all 33 1 /33 In pictures: Saint-Denis raid In pictures: Saint-Denis raid A man is arrested by police officers at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers detain a man on the ground inside a shopping mall in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers arrest a man in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police officers storm a church after a raid in Paris suburb Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers at work at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Some people are being transferred to a local hospital near the site of this morning police raid in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Residents are evacuated in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Inhabitants are evacuated from a security perimeter set in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis city center In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Families are evacuated by police members at the site were a police raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Rescue teams take care of an injured police officer at the site where a police raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Members of special French RAID forces with a police dog and French riot police (CRS) secure the area during an operation in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police forces operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French riot police (CRS), soldiers, firefighters and health workers stand at the scene in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French riot police (CRS) secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Rescue teams and police gather at the site where raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Soldiers operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers take up positions in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police and Ambulance vans are parked in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid A resident is being searched by police officers in Paris suburb Saint-Denis AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Members of French police special forces in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis city center, as French Police special forces raid an appartment, hunting those behind the attacks that claimed 129 lives in the French capital In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Anti-terrorist police raid apartment in Saint Denis, Paris. Reports suggest the target of the police siege in Saint-Denis is Abdelhamid Abaaoud, thought to be the mastermind behind the Paris attacks. Three suspected terrorists have barricaded themselves in an apartment gunfire has been exchanged between the men and dozens of armed police Rex In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police evacuate residents in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers take up positions in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police forces prepare in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French spolice stop and search a local resident as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police members participate in an raid in the city center of Saint-Denis EPA In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Firemen wait for the develop of the operation in the city center of Saint-Denis EPA In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters

He said: "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!"

Abaaoud claimed he was able to travel “safely” back to Syria when it suited him. He said: “I was able to leave and come to Sham (Syria) despite being chased by so many intelligence agencies.

“All this proves that a Muslim should not fear the bloated image of the crusader intelligence. My name and picture were all over the news yet I was able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them, and leave safely when doing so became necessary.”