(REUTERS) - The man seen in the video is believed to be Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind behind the Paris attacks. It was uploaded to social media and thought to be recorded before a militant attack.

French police on Wednesday (Nov 18) launched a raid targeting Abaaoud in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Abaaoud is a Belgian Islamist, who also operates under an assumed name of Abu Omar al-Balgiki. A woman suicide bomber blew herself up and another militant died in the seven-hour raid. Seven people were arrested whose identities were being checked by police.

A source close to the investigation said the dead woman might have been Abaaoud's cousin. The interior ministry said forensic experts were looking to see whether a third person had died during the pre-dawn raid, indicating the rare violence of the confrontation that shredded the third-floor apartment.