Two Suspects Die as Police Raid on Apartment in Search of Paris Attacks Mastermind Government says raid is now over; heavy gunfire rang out through the morning in northern suburb By Inti Landauro and William Horobin
http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-attacks-police-conduct-raid-in-search-of-suspects-1447826626
A woman blew herself up at the start of a dawn raid in Saint-Denis, close to the national soccer stadium that was targeted in Friday night’s attacks, and police said another terror suspect was killed.
What We Know About the Paris Attack PerpetratorsFrench authorities have named some of the perpetrators of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. Officials believe the assailants carried out the atrocities on behalf of Islamic State. Here’s what we know so far.
The government said at about noon that the siege had ended.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said investigators raided the apartment acting on suspicion that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian-born senior Islamic State operative may have been there.
Police detained three men who were holed up in the apartment, and four people nearby. Prosecutors didn’t immediately identify the detainees. A police dog was also killed in the raid.
If confirmed, Mr. Abaaoud’s presence so close to the scene of the Paris attacks would deepen concerns about Europe’s security, and raise questions over how an Islamic State operative who featured prominently on Western military’s target lists slipped back through borders to sow terror in the heart of the continent.
Police descended at 4.20 am on the narrow street in the heart of the commercial district of Saint-Denis, a gritty neighborhood of Paris with a dense Muslim population. Soldiers in fatigues and elite police with heavy machine guns secured a perimeter.
As police moved in to the scene, one of the suspects in the apartment—a woman—shot back at police using a Kalashnikov before detonating a suicide vest. Sounds of heavy gunfire were heard intermittently in the surrounding area.
“There were lights and laser beams coming toward us,” a woman who lives in the apartment below where the raid was taking place told French radio. “There were explosions and you could feel the building shaking.”
The woman, who identified herself as Yasmine, said she heard men shouting “reload, reload” as she lay on the ground with her baby.
Later, injured police officers were shown limping away from the scene, aided by colleagues. Authorities advised residents near the sports arena to stay indoors.
A man claiming to be the occupant of the apartment raided by police at 48 Rue du Corbillion, was interviewed on French news channel BFMTV near the scene.
“I didn’t know they were terrorists,” the man said. “I was asked to put up two people for three days, I did a favor.” One police official said the man has since been detained.
As the raid took place, French President François Hollande met at the Élysée Palace with Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve. The weekly cabinet meeting went ahead as usual.
Mr. Abaaoud is one of two people who have emerged at the center of the probe into the attacks that killed 129 people on Friday.
French and Belgian authorities are also searching for Salah Abdeslam, who they say took part in the attacks.
After watching surveillance video footage and videos shot by victims and passersby, investigators say they now believe that three people were in a car that dropped off a suicide bomber near a restaurant in eastern Paris on Friday night. French authorities initially thought only two people were in the car: Mr. Abdeslam and his brother, Brahim Abdeslam, who blew himself up in front of the restaurant.
The presence of three men suggests the group was comprised of at least nine people, including seven suicide bombers who carried out the Friday night massacre. Paris prosecutors Tuesday cautioned that the group of participants may have been even larger.
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