Paris Mastermind Targeted In Deadly Siege

Explosions and gunfire have been heard after armed police launched a raid on an apartment where the alleged mastermind of the Paris terror attacks was believed to be holed up.

Police say two suspects wanted in connection with the terror in the French capital - a man and a woman who detonated a suicide belt she was wearing - have been killed.

A police official said he believed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the attacks who was thought to be in Syria, was inside the apartment in the northern suburb of Saint Denis with several other heavily armed suspects.

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Seven people have been arrested, and five police officers have been slightly injured in the five-hour standoff. A police dog was shot dead.

French media has reported a suspect was killed by a police sniper.

Police have said one attacker is still in the apartment, although their identity is unclear.

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Scores of police stormed the building at around 4am local time, but were met with unexpectedly strong resistance, another official said.

A number of large explosions have been heard, with witnesses reporting hearing automatic gunfire and grenades.

Nearby buildings have been evacuated and an area around Place Jean Jaures has been sealed off.

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Sabrine, who lives below the apartment where the assault took place, told Le Parisien newspaper the scene is "like a war zone".

She said: "I was woken at about four in the morning by gunfire. I lay down on the floor with my baby. It was awful.

"I heard the explosions, dozens of gun shots. My ceiling began to collapse, there was dust everywhere.

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"My baby was gripping on to me when he heard the guns go off. It was never-ending.

"I stayed on the floor for about two-and-a-half hours before leaving.

"The stairwell was destroyed, the building is wrecked. It like a war zone."

A father-of-two told the newspaper: "About 7am, I thought it was ending. The police vans were leaving people started to come out.

"But 10 minutes later, everything was sealed off again. Now, it's the military who have taken position in the street.

"A quarter of an hour ago we heard deafening noises, like explosions. There were about a dozen."

French media has said a man has been arrested after reportedly claiming he put up the people in the flat that has been targeted.

French President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency meeting with senior ministers to monitor the raid.

A source close to the investigation into last week's terrorist attacks, which left 129 people dead and hundreds injured, has said the suspected militants holed up in the apartment had planned an attack on the city's La Defense business district.

The site of the siege is less than 2km (around a mile) from the Stade de France, one of the locations that was targeted in the attacks.

Saint Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said public transport was suspended and schools in the centre of town would not open on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, surveillance footage had been found showing that a suspected ninth terrorist could have been involved in the attacks .

The video, which has yet to be released by police, shows a third man was in a dark coloured car police believe was used by brothers Salah and Brahim Abdeslam as they gunned down Parisians in restaurants and bars.