French police in heavy gunfire with Paris terror attacks suspects in Saint-Denis
Updated Nov. 18 9:45pm AEDT: A group of special forces launches an attempt at gaining entry into a Christian church in Saint-Denis. The image sparks speculation that there may be a suspect inside the church. CNN has updated the number of fatalities to two. One of the two was a female suicide bomber. The status and whereabouts of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the target of the assault, remain unknown.
Updated Nov. 18 6:45pm AEDT: Police operations in St-Denis seem to have quieted down. Several reports indicated that suspects were either arrested or killed. Exact numbers or details cannot be confirmed yet. Reports also came that one suspect is still inside the apartment.
Updated Nov. 18 6:40pm AEDT: The Agence France-Presse reports three out of six suspects in the Saint-Denis apartment raid have been arrested. Three others died in the planned assault, which started at 4:30 a.m. local time.
Updated Nov. 18 6:30pm AEDT: CNN reports the operation is coming to an end. Official details remain scarce on the number of injured, fatalities or suspects still being hunted.
Updated Nov. 18 6:15pm AEDT: French national police reiterated that the operation is ongoing. The number of fatalities is not yet final as information from the area is coming thick and fast. According to Agence France-Presse, two people have been arrested in the Saint-Denis raid.
Updated Nov. 18 6:10pm AEDT: Three fugitives in the apartment are confirmed dead, according to Le Monde and other French media. Confirmation came from police and judicial sources. A woman wearing an explosive belt was also added to the casualty after the belt blew up. No other sources have confirmed the information.
Updated Nov. 18 5:57pm AEDT: Seven explosions erupted from the scene but cause remains unknown. Around 100 French troops in three heavy trucks arrived at St-Denis to secure the area. The same security measures were implemented at the Bataclan concert hall on Friday night. Police in heavy arms have surrounded the town.
PARIS, FRANCE - Heavy gunfire erupted Wednesday morning in Saint-Denis as French police locked down on Paris terror attacks suspects. Salah Abdeslam and another suspect were believed to be barricaded in an apartment as French authorities continued their manhunt after the widely publicised terror attacks on Friday.
French police said that anti-terrorist officers have surrounded an apartment with several men in the north Paris suburb. Officials confirmed that there has been an exchange of gunfire. There were sounds of heavy gunfire at around 4 a.m. Didier Paillard, the suburb's mayor, confirmed to a French television channel, iTélé, that the exchange lasted for 20 minutes.
“It was really like guerrilla warfare,” Pierre-Eric, a resident, told BFM TV.
Several police personnel were already injured but the extent of their injuries remain unknown. There are also no details if any of the suspects were injured. Police vans and fire trucks have also rushed to the scene. According to reports, helicopters are flying over the area while the police cordoned off the area nearb. Officials warned residents to stay indoors until the coast is clear.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office confirmed that the police operation was planned. The site is only less than two kilometres from the Stade de France, where three suicide bombers commenced attacks last Friday.
Apart from the two fugitives reportedly holed up in the apartment, the police were also looking for a man suspected to the mastermind of the attacks: a Belgian militant named Abdelhamid Abaaoud, either 27 or 28 years old.
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