Police evacuate residents in the suburb of Saint Denis and take up positions outside the apartment building (left) where terrorism suspects were holed up. Photo / AP
Police evacuate residents in the suburb of Saint Denis and take up positions outside the apartment building (left) where terrorism suspects were holed up. Photo / AP
Terrorism suspects killed in gun battle as authorities hunt mastermind.
A deadly gun battle broke out between security forces and terrorism suspects holed up in a north Paris apartment building, as French authorities intensified their hunt for those responsible for Saturday's attacks on the city.
Soldiers took up positions in the suburb of Saint Denis and explosions were heard in the raid, whose target was the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
One suspected terrorist was shot dead, another died when her suicide vest detonated, and four police were wounded in the battle which began about 4.30am yesterday (4.30pm NZT) and continued for some hours. At least one of the terror suspects remained barricaded in the apartment last night.
"There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again," a witness said.
French television reports said the raid was linked to the hunt for the so-called "ninth suspect" from Saturday's (NZT) three terror attacks which killed at least 129 people.
Police and military troops cordoned off the area around last night's operation. Resident Fabien Crombe said there had been repeated bursts of gunshots, punctuated by silence and the sound of sirens.
Saint Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said transport had been halted and schools in the centre of town would be closed temporarily. Authorities told residents to stay inside.
The ninth suspect was detected on surveillance video in a car that the attackers had used when they shot diners at cafes and bars. French police carried out dozens of additional raids, while investigations in France and Belgium revealed details of the attackers' movements before the co-ordinated assaults.
Police evacuate residents in the suburb of Saint Denis and take up positions outside the apartment building (left) where terrorism suspects were holed up. Photo / AP
France unleashed a third night of intense airstrikes on Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said 10 French fighter jets were launching attacks on the city. Raqqa is now the central target of the United States and allied countries seeking to dismantle the extremist group's control of territory in Syria and Iraq.
Earlier yesterday, two Air France flights bound for Paris from the United States had to be diverted because of anonymous threats received after they had taken off, but both planes landed safely, one in the US, the other in Canada, officials said. Passengers got off both planes safely and were taken to airport terminals. Authorities were preparing to search the planes with dogs.
Security fears intensified in Europe as German authorities scrambled to respond to a reported bomb plot and French investigators uncovered clues suggesting the Isis cell that launched the Saturday attacks in Paris was larger than previously known.
Authorities in Hanover, Germany, cancelled a football friendly between Germany and the Netherlands that Chancellor Angela Merkel had planned to attend.
Hanover police chief Volker Kluwe said officials received "a concrete tip that an explosives attack was planned against this international match in the stadium". Although no explosives were immediately located, the appearance of another suspected plot to wreak havoc at a crowded public event underscored the challenge facing European nations as they seek to detect and prevent terrorist attacks.
In Brussels, a football match scheduled for Tuesday between Belgium and Spain was also cancelled.
