Updated | Paris attacks: Two dead, seven in custody following Saint Denis raid
The operation came after a mobile phone, found in a dustbin near the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people died, was found with a map of the music venue targeted in one of the attacks, along with a text message saying “let’s go”.
At least two people have been killed during a major police operation targeting the alleged mastermind of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, police and judicial sources have said.
Wednesday’s operation came after a mobile phone, found in a dustbin near the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people died, was found with a map of the music venue targeted in one of the attacks, along with a text message saying “let’s go”.
Le parquet de Paris confirme la mort d'une femme kamikaze lors de l'assaut du RAID à St-Denis. pic.twitter.com/QTiYRcKyGO
— Guillaume BIET (@GuillaumeBiet) November 18, 2015Police sources said a man wanted in connection with the bloody series of suicide bombings and shootings in the French capital was shot dead by a police sniper during the raid, while the Paris public prosecutor confirmed that a woman had blown herself up by detonating an explosive belt.
There were unconfirmed reports that there may be a third person inside the apartment building on the rue de Corbillon in St-Denis, a town just north of Paris, where police launched the operation at about 4.30am.
French police have tweeted that the raid in St Denis is ongoing and that five officers have suffered slight injuries. A 7-year-old Malinois police dog called Diesel was killed earlier this morning in the raid.
The Paris prosecutor, François Molins, also said three men who were inside the apartment had been arrested.
A man, reportedly the owner of the apartment, and a woman were also detained outside. The unidentified man told the AFP news agency before being led away that a friend of his had “asked me to put up two of his friends for a few days … I was asked to do a favour, I did a favour. I didn’t know they were terrorists.” The woman said the two visitors arrived “two days ago”.
Police said the operation targeted Abdel-Hamid Aba Oud, the alleged mastermind of last week’s attacks, which killed 129 people, although it was not certain he was in the apartment. Aba Oud, 27, a well-known extremist sentenced in his absence to 20 years in jail in his native Belgium, was believed to have been in Syria.
#BREAKING #France #Update: Shooting between police and several barricated men during police raid near #Paris. pic.twitter.com/9BSJb3YKcb
— Myteks Media Labs (@myteks) November 18, 2015Police are also still hunting Salah Abdeslam, a French national living in Belgium, whose brother, Brahim, blew himself up in the Paris attacks, and an unidentified “ninth attacker” sought since Tuesday night.
