Massive raids in Paris to nab attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Massive raids in Paris to nab attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud
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Highlights

A suspected woman is reported to have blown herself up with a suicide belt during operations today in a Paris suburb to hunt down Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Reports say another suspect has also been killed among the three dead so far.

Paris: A suspected woman is reported to have blown herself up with a suicide belt during operations today in a Paris suburb to hunt down Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Reports say another suspect has also been killed among the three dead so far. The identity of the third has not been disclosed. The French security carried out massive raids in the suburbs of St Denis since dawn and the operation is still underway.

It is still not clear if the 28-year-old Abaaoud, a 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. At least seven explosions were heard at the scene of a police standoff with suspects in last week's deadly Paris attacks. Associated Press reporters at the scene could hear what sounded like grenade blasts from the direction of the standoff in the heart of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
The source of the blasts is unclear. Police say several people are holed up in an apartment and several police have been injured in an operation that has lasted at least three hours on Wednesday morning. Three people have been killed and three held in the showdown between police and suspects, according to reports. Police say anti-terrorist officers are raiding an apartment in a north Paris suburb where several men are holed up.

The Paris police department says officers have exchanged gunfire with the suspects and several police have been injured. The extent of their injuries is unknown. It's unclear whether there are injuries among the suspects. Several police officers have been wounded in the shooting and three men have been detained, accroding to reports.

Police vans and fire trucks rushed to the scene of a SWAT team operation in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis that is linked to the deadly Paris attacks. A helicopter flew overhead at dawn. French television BFM and i-Tele say that the suspects are inside an apartment building.

Police have cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings. Neighbourhood resident Fabien Crombe said on BFM television that gunshots have repeatedly broken out since the police operation began, punctuated by silence and the sound of sirens.

The raids are underway in hunt for the suspected Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, according to the police. St Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said transport has been stopped and schools in the center of town will not open Wednesday. Firemen reported a shootout during police operation on the northern edge of the city, still recovering from the deadly Friday the 13th massacre that killed 129 people and injured many.

Authorities have told St Denis residents to stay indoors. A resident of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis describes intense gunfire and explosions during a police operation near the site of one of last week's deadly attacks. Baptiste Marie, a 26-year-old independent journalist who lives near the scene of the standoff, said, "It started with an explosion. Then there was second big explosion. Then two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire."

Resident Amin Guizani, 21, says: "There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again." Riot police were clearing the streets early Wednesday, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads. Marie said the officers seemed nervous. "You could see it in their eyes, " Marie said.

The shootout came as France remains on high alert after a video revealed a ninth man may have taken part in the Paris attacks. Terror group Islamic State has claimed the bloodshed. Police across Europe are hunting the newest suspect, after footage showed a third man in a car used by gunmen who opened fire at bars and restaurants in central Paris.

It is not clear if this ninth man is one of two suspected accomplices detained in Belgium or is on the run, potentially with 26-year-old fugitive Frenchman Salah Abdeslam who carried out one of the attacks at Bonne Biere cafe along with his suicide-bomber brother Brahim.

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday will hold a meeting to discuss proposals to extend the state of emergency declared after the worst attacks in French history for three months. It will then be put to vote by lawmakers Thursday and Friday. In a sign of the nervousness gripping Europe after Friday's carnage, a football match between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled on Tuesday and the crowd evacuated after police acted on a "serious" bomb threat.
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