Paris attacks mastermind was killed in Saint Denis police shoot-out

The suspected mastermind of the Paris terror attacks was killed during Wednesday's dramatic police shoot-out in the French capital, prosecutors have said.

Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, is believed to have been the ringleader of last Friday's massacres which left 129 dead.

Forensic experts were trying to determine whether a body recovered following a major pre-dawn raid on a flat in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis was that of Abaaoud.

In a statement, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed that Abaaoud died in the raid and his body had been identified based on skin samples.