Two killed, several injured in Paris terror raids: reports
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Two suspected jihadists have been killed and several police officers injured during an anti-terrorist operation, as police close in on the suspects involved in Friday’s attacks in Paris.
A woman died after detonating a suicide belt and there was an exchange of gunfire during the raid on an apartment in the northern suburb of Saint Denis, which a police source said was targeting Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is suspected of being behind the series of coordinated terrorists attacks across the French capital.
Three police and a passerby were injured and the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed five people had been arrested.
According to French media, police officers were shot and wounded during the raid, five days after the worst attacks in French history killed 129 people in the capital.
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Sky News UK reported about seven ‘significant’ explosions were heard as counter-terrorism officers wearing balaclavas were deployed.
Three men holed up inside the apartment were arrested, while a man and woman were arrested near the location of the raid.
Day breaks as the raid continues. Photo: ABC
The prosecutor’s office also confirmed that a woman had detonated an explosives vest during the assault.
There were also reports a third person had died.
A source close to the case said the police operation was continuing to flush out two other suspects.
A judicial source said police had originally been hunting other suspects in Saint-Denis, but now believed Abaaoud was one of those barricaded in the building.
Abaaoud was initially thought to have orchestrated the Paris attacks from Syria, police and justice sources said.
More than 100 raids had been carried out in Paris, including one in a French hotel used by six offenders in the mass murders, Sky News reported.
Another source said a special armed response unit took part in the raid.
French TV station BFMTV and iTele both showed amateur video of the shootings and cited witnesses in the area saying they had heard sporadic gunfire since around 4:30am (local time).
Military take up positions at operation in Saint Denis #Parisattackd pic.twitter.com/d9U2fWtsIU
— Barbara Miller (@abcbarbm) November 18, 2015
Saint-Denis is nearby the Stade de France, one of several locations targeted in a series of deadly attacks across Paris last Friday night.
French military move in on the raids. Photo: ABC
The attacks, which have been claimed by the Islamist militant group, left 129 people dead and more than 300 injured.
Police say there were at least nine attackers, seven of whom died during the attacks, including six who detonated vests laden with explosives.
An international manhunt is underway for Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam and an unidentified man, believed to be the remaining attackers.
A source close to the inquiry said there was a possibility the unidentified man was on the run, unless he was one of two suspected accomplices currently being held in Belgium.
Prosecutors have revealed wide-ranging Belgian connections to the attacks and French police have detained multiple suspects and continue to hunt for accomplices.
Another attacker was named as Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, who was identified from a severed finger at the Bataclan concert hall.
The prosecutor’s office said police had released family and friends of jihadists Ismael Mostefai and Samy Amimour, who blew themselves up in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 were killed.