A number of people have been killed, including a woman who blew herself up with a suicide belt, and several police officers injured, in an armed stand-off in the Paris suburb of St Denis.
The besieged flat is thought to have contained at least six terrorists, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the “mastermind” behind Friday’s killing of 132 people. Adaaoud has previously boasted of how he has been “able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them and leave safely”, under the noses of the European authorities.
Salah Abdeslam, who is one of the three Belgian brothers who has been on the run, and is thought to have been a driver in the attacks, was also reportedly targeted in the raid.
Paris prosecutors have released a statement confirming that one woman was killed after she activated an explosive device, thee people that were inside the apartment have been arrested and another man and woman arrested near the apartment.
The raid began at around 4:00 in the morning, with a series of explosions heard, and sustained gunfire for at least an hour. The army arrived on scene at around 6:30 in the morning, as the sun was rising. Around 50 troops were deployed, RTL reports.
“There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again,” Saint Denis resident Amin Guizani told AP.
The suburb of Saint Denis, in the North of Paris, is home to the Stade de France national stadium, which was attacked on Friday.
The stand-off appears to be ongoing. France 24 was reporting that one person is still inside the apartment at 8:30, and a Le Monde journalist reported there was continuing gun fire at the apartment at 9:10.
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