Paris attacks planners 'killed in Syria'

Two men involved in the November 2015 Paris attacks have been killed in Syria in a US air strike, officials have said.

The men, named in a Pentagon statement as Salah Gourmat and Sammy Djedou, were members of the Islamic State (IS).

A third member of the group, linked to a failed terror plot in Belgium in 2015, was also killed in the strike on 4 December, the statement said.

The three were plotting attacks against Western targets at the time of the strike, it said.

All three were part of a network led by Boubaker Al-Hakim, who was killed in another coalition air strike on 16 November, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

"This strike highlights our relentless efforts to simultaneously target ISIL (IS) members who seek to attack the US, our interests, and our allies around the world," Cook said.

IS militants claimed responsibility for the attacks in the French capital on 13 November 2015, which targeted a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars.

A total of 130 people were killed, with more than 350 wounded.

Nine attackers were involved in total, six of whom died in the suicide bombings.
The deadliest incident of the night took place at the Bataclan music venue where gunmen forced their way into the nightclub during a concert, fired on the crowd and took about 100 people as hostages. Two attackers killed when security forces ended the siege.