Two dead, seven arrested in Saint-Denis raid targeting Paris attack mastermind
SAINT-DENIS/PARIS (France) — A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up today (Nov 18) as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban Paris apartment where the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks, Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was believed to be holed up, police said.
SAINT-DENIS/PARIS (France) — A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up today (Nov 18) as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban Paris apartment where the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks, Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was believed to be holed up, police said.
A man was also killed and seven people arrested in the standoff, which began before dawn and continued for about seven hours before French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll confirmed that the operation had ended. The fate of the mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud is unclear. Five police officers suffered minor injuries
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the police began the raid after gathering information that suspect Abdelhamid Abaaoud could be in a safe house apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. He said the information was collected from tapped telephone conversations, surveillance and witness accounts.
He told reporters in Saint-Denis after the operation was over that authorities are still working to determine who was inside.
Earlier, a senior police official said he believed Abdelhamid Abaaoud was inside the apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with five other heavily armed people. The official, who was not authorised to be publicly named according to police rules but is informed routinely about the operation, said scores of police stormed the building and were met with unexpectedly violent resistance. No hostages were being held.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said SWAT teams arrested three people in the apartment. It said they haven’t been identified yet. Another man and woman were detained near the apartment, the office said in a statement. It also confirmed that a woman had detonated an explosives vest during the police assault.
The police also posted on social media that a seven-year-old police dog had been killed during the raid. They said that the seven-year-old Belgian Malinois “was killed by terrorists in the current operation in Saint-Denis”.
The raid began just after 4am, on an apartment at the crossroads of Rue de la Republique and Rue Corbillon. The area is home to the Stade de France, one of several places hit by gunmen and suicide bombers last Friday in the worst ever attack on French soil, which was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. The coordinated assaults last Friday killed 129 people and injured more than 350, some of them critically.
Today, residents in Saint-Denis said an explosion shook the neighbourhood early in the morning before dawn.
“Then there was second big explosion. Then two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire,” said 26-year-old independent journalist Baptiste Marie, who lives in the neighborhood.
Another witness Amine Guizani said he heard the sound of grenades and automatic gunfire. “They were shooting for an hour. Nonstop. There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again,” Mr Guizani said.
A local resident who identified herself as Alexia told AFP she heard shots, "'booms like grenades and then intermittent bursts" of gunfire".
"I heard bursts of machine gun fire," said Reda, a taxi driver. "I got out (of the car), masked policemen stopped us and told us to leave."
The raid came as Europe was placed on high alert after footage from the scene of one of Friday's attacks revealed a ninth suspect may have taken part. It was not clear if this ninth man was one of two suspected accomplices detained in Belgium or was on the run, potentially with 26-year-old fugitive Frenchman Salah Abdeslam who took part in the attacks with his suicide-bomber brother Brahim.
Sporadic bangs and explosions continued, and at 7.30am (local time) at least seven explosions shook the centre of Saint-Denis. Associated Press reporters at the scene could hear what sounded like grenade blasts from the direction of the standoff. French soldiers were seen joining in with the operation. Ambulances were also seen and sirens heard in French television footage from the scene. A helicopter was also seen flying overhead at dawn, reported AP.
Photo: AP
Neighborhood 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.
In Saint-Denis, police also cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings. Riot police cleared people from the streets, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads.
Saint-Denis is one of France’s most historic places. French kings were crowned and buried through the centuries in its famed basilica. Today it is home to a vibrant and very ethnically diverse population and sees sporadic tension between police and violent youths.
Saint-Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said public transport was suspended and that schools in the center of town would not open today.
AP/AFP/REUTERS
In a video posted by YouTube user trystero19, purportedly filmed in Saint Denis at 4.45am (local time), gunfire can be heard in the background. TODAY is unable to independently verify the accuracy of the video below: