Paris Terror Attacks: Militants Responsible May Have Spent Just $7,500

The terror attacks in Paris last Friday that killed at least 130 people and wounded hundreds may have cost as little as $7,500 to carry out, Reuters reported. The attacks, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility, set off security crackdowns in countries around the world, along with a flurry airstrikes on Syria.

France and Belgium swiftly announced 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) worth of extra security measures, and the French Parliament voted Thursday to extend its state of emergency by an extra 90 days, giving police expanded powers to carry out searches and arrests. The militants, by contrast, used little more than AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, homemade suicide belts, rental cars and apartments when they unleashed their bevy of coordinated attacks on Paris cafes, restaurants, the Bataclan theater and the national stadium.

In comparison, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon reportedly cost $400,000 to $500,000 to carry out, which covered the plane hijackers’ pilot training, flights and living expenses while they were completing their training.

Reuters estimated the suicide belts worn by the seven assailants cost $160 while the two rented apartments -- one for a week and the other for three nights -- likely came to $725. The three cars the militants rented to drive themselves from Brussels to Paris would have cost around $635, including gas and toll expenses.

The AK-47 rifles used in the attacks -- three in the Bataclan theater shootings, three found later in the attackers’ cars plus one other -- would have cost $5,750. In its calculations, Reuters did not include costs for any accomplices who may have come from outside France and Belgium since those could not be calculated reliably.