Some of the Paris attackers were previously on the US watchlist.

(Baonghean.vn) - At least four of the Paris attackers were previously on the US intelligence counterterrorism database, according to information from five US officials on November 19.

French special forces in the area where the shooting occurred in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on November 18th, as part of an operation to apprehend those who fled after the Paris attacks on the night of November 13th. Photo: Reuters.

At least one, and likely several others, of those who carried out the attack were also on the U.S. no-fly list, three of the officials said, although they did not provide a specific number.

In the series of attacks in Paris on November 13, 129 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for the worst tragedy in France since World War II.

U.S. officials said that four of the attackers whose identities France had previously released were on the TIDE list, a top-secret database containing unprocessed information managed by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They did not name the individuals on the TIDE list.

Last year, an NCTC report stated that as of December 2013, TIDE contained information on “approximately 1.1 million individuals,” many of whom “go by multiple names.”

Reportedly, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have filtered and selected the names to be included on TIDE's list.

The report stated that approximately 25,000 Americans were included in this database. However, officials argue that the Paris attackers were not U.S. citizens or residents, and their identities were obtained from the database after European officials shared intelligence with the U.S.

Another unit of the U.S. government, the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), under the administration of the FBI, currently maintains several classified databases, including a primary list of suspects known as the Terrorist Screening Database and two smaller lists, the “screening list” and the “no-fly list”.

These lists are selective versions of TIDE, and classified intelligence data has been removed. Airlines operating in the U.S. must submit passenger lists to the TSC before each flight for review.

Dave Joly, a spokesperson for the Terrorism Screening Center, said the agency does not publicly confirm or deny whether an individual is on its watchlists because doing so “would significantly impact the government’s ability to investigate and respond to terrorism and protect transportation security.”

Thu Giang

(According to Reuters)