Paris attack mastermind may have committed suicide in today's raid: French envoy
Gunfire and explosions shook the Paris suburb of St. Denis early on Wednesday as French police surrounded an apartment where a Belgian Islamist militant suspected of masterminding last week's attacks in the French capital was believed to be holed up.
Gunfire and explosions shook the Paris suburb of St. Denis early on Wednesday as French police surrounded an apartment where a Belgian Islamist militant suspected of masterminding last week's attacks in the French capital was believed to be holed up.
Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout in north Paris with police hunting the mastermind of last week's attacks on the French capital, reports said.
At least seven people were arrested for questioning by French police. "Three men who were entrenched in the apartment were removed and are being held in for questioning," the prosecutor's office said. Another man and a woman who were in the vicinity of the apartment, where the attackers were holed up, are also being questioned, the prosecutor said.
French police were involved in a prolonged shootout in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis early, where a Belgian Islamic State militant suspected of masterminding last week's attacks was believed to be holed up.
The area is home to the Stade de France, one of several places hit by gunmen and suicide bombers on Friday in the worst ever attack on French soil, which was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
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Gunfire and explosions shook the Paris suburb of St. Denis early on Wednesday as French police surrounded an apartment where a Belgian Islamist militant suspected of masterminding last week's attacks in the French capital was believed to be holed up.
California-based band Eagles of Death Metal back home and suspending all shows after Paris attacks, a band statement said.
Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected Paris attacks mastermind, may have committed suicide during pre-dawn raids on Wednesday by French police at a suburban Paris apartment, according to French Ambassaador to India Francois Richier.
"I have information which leads us to suspect that he committed suicide. I have nothing, no particular documents to say that. That is the first indication we have received," Richier said.
"We are waiting for final confirmation that Abdelhamid Abaaoud is dead," he said.
Read the complete story here: Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud may have committed suicide during raids: French envoy
The French government has confirmed that all 129 victims of Friday's Paris attacks have been identified.
AFP quotes the prosecutor saying that the identity of those killed and arrested is still unclear; it is also uncertain if the suspected mastermind's presence was uncertain
According to Sky News, French police have said one attacker is still holed up in an apartment in Saint Denis in Northern Paris.
According to reports, Paris attack mastermind among 3 dead in raid in Saint Denis: Report
"Three men who were entrenched in the apartment were removed and are being held in for questioning," the prosecutor's office said. Another man and a woman who were in the vicinity of the apartment, where the attackers were holed up, are also being questioned, the prosecutor said.
A local resident who identified herself as Alexia told AFP she heard shots, "'booms like grenades and then intermittent bursts" of gunfire".
"I heard bursts of machine gun fire," said Reda, a taxi driver. "I got out (of the car), masked policemen stopped us and told us to leave."
(Image: Reuters)
According to AP, an official with the Paris police department who was not authorized to be publicly named said two people have been detained, and two police officers injured in the standoff Wednesday in Saint-Denis.
Suspected attacks mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, believed holed up in standoff.
Two arrested after shootout in north Paris: Reports
French police stop and search a local resident as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis, France, near Paris, November 18, 2015 during an operation to catch fugitives from Friday nights deadly attacks in the French capital.
French military deployed to north Paris amid shootout: AFP
At least seven explosions have been heard at the scene of a police standoff with suspects in last week's deadly Paris attacks.
According to Associated Press, reporters at the scene could hear what sounded like grenade blasts.
The suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was the target of a dawn raid by police in the north of the city, a police source said.
It was not clear if the 28-year-old member of the Islamic State jihadist group was one of two to four people thought to be inside the apartment in Saint Denis that police swooped on.
Fait peur tout ça... ils referment le périmètre... #saintdenis #RAID pic.twitter.com/3mkeDfHoNm
— Female Khal (@Chelmih) November 18, 2015
Paris shootout follows police raid on suspected Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud: Police
Firemen told AFP they they joined the operation against "an armed group holed up in an apartment" at 04:31 am (0331 GMT), without giving any further details, adding that one person was lightly hurt.
The area was closed down and intermittent gunfire could still be heard an hour after it started.
* According to reports, several police were wounded in the raid, which began before dawn in the suburb of Saint Denis.
* Reports also suggest that unidentified men were still holed up in an apartment.
Police hurt during anti-terrorist raid in northern Paris.