Salah Abdeslam in court as trial for 2015 Paris attacks opens

Twenty men, including main suspect Salah Abdeslam, facing charges over November 13, 2015 attacks that killed 130 people across French capital.

The long-awaited trial of 20 men charged over the 2015 coordinated attacks that killed 130 people across Paris has opened in the French capital. Key defendant Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the only surviving member of the group of nine gunmen and suicide bombers who struck within minutes of each other at several locations – including restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium – on November 13, 2015. Abdeslam appeared in court dressed in black and wearing a black face mask, obligatory because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked what his profession was, the 31-year-old removed his face mask and told the high court Paris court defiantly: “I gave up my job to become an Islamic State (ISIL) soldier.”