Moroccan intelligence initiated anti-terror raid in Paris suburb: local media

The anti-terror raid in the northern suburbs of Paris on Wednesday was initiated based on Moroccan intelligence information, local media reported.

Citing a senior Moroccan security source, Alyaoum24 news website revealed that Moroccan intelligence services provided "precise information" to their French counterpart enabling them to locate the suspects.

The source pointed out that Morocco has provided very useful information to help the French investigations to identify the Paris attackers.

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 Friday's attacks, France-based 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," he added.

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. Endit