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4th LD Two suspects dead, five arrested in anti-terror raid after Paris attacks

Xinhua, November 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Two armed terror suspects were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a police raid in the northern suburbs of Paris for hunting down the ninth suspect of the Paris attacks, BFMTV reported Wednesday.

"A woman hidden in the apartment, who activated her explosive vest at the beginning of the assault, is dead," Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins confirmed Wednesday morning.

"Three men, who were hiding in the apartment, were extracted by RAID (a special unit of French National Police) and put into custody."

Molins said a man and a woman were also arrested near the apartment. But he did not give identities of the five who were arrested.

BFMTV reported that three police officers were slightly injured in the operation that started at 4:20 a.m. (0320 GMT) in Saint-Denis. A large number of soldiers also participated in the raid.

The report said the operation targeted Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Moroccan-origin Belgian jihadist believed to be the mastermind behind Friday night's attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

Eyewitnesses told BFMTV that they have heard explosions and gunshots since 4:30 a.m. Gunshots were also heard from the Xinhua bureau in Paris, some 5 km away from Saint-Denis.

Gunshots and explosions were heard again around 7:28 a.m. (0628 GMT).

The raid was conducted not far from the French national stadium, Stade de France, where three suicide bombers blew themselves up Friday night during a soccer match which French President Francois Hollande was watching on site.

The operation was taking place in the "very center" of the Saint-Denis, a commune in a northern suburb of Paris, Saint-Denis Mayor Didier Paillard told BFMTV, noting that residents are advised to stay home.

Public transport was suspended in the operation zone. Police also suggested people working in the area not go to work.

Residents of the building where the raid was carried out were told to lie on the floor and to keep clear of the windows.

Another key suspect, Salah Abdeslam, who might be one of the shooters in the attacks, is still at large. Endi