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| Trèbes siege: French prime minister says supermarket hostage situation 'appears to be terrorist act' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The French prime minister has said all evidence points to the ongoing hostage situation in southern France being a “terrorist act”. | |
| Edouard Philippe made the announcement after French police confirmed to The Independent that two people had been killed. The gunman was reported to have taken up to eight hostages near Toulouse on Friday morning. | |
| The attacker struck at the Super U shop in Trèbes and is thought to be alone inside the shop with a single police officer after releasing a number of other hostages, according to the town’s mayor. | |
| French police told The Independent that two people had died in the attack and that a police officer and a woman were injured. | |
| AFP reported the gunman had claimed allegiance to Isis, while the BFM TV channel said he had demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of being involved in the November 2015 Paris terror attack that killed 130 people. | |
| The town's mayor Eric Menassi also told LCI TV that the man had entered the shop screaming “Allahu Akbar, I’ll kill you all”. | |
| Prosecutors are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. | Prosecutors are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. |
| Interior minister spokesman Frederic Delanouvelle told AP there was one suspect and that police were trying to subdue him. | Interior minister spokesman Frederic Delanouvelle told AP there was one suspect and that police were trying to subdue him. |
| Earlier on Friday in the nearby town of Carcassonne, a short drive away, at least one gunman opened fire on a group of police officers and wounded one, according to reports and the UNSA police union. | Earlier on Friday in the nearby town of Carcassonne, a short drive away, at least one gunman opened fire on a group of police officers and wounded one, according to reports and the UNSA police union. |
| Yves Lefebvre, secretary general of the SGP Police-FO union, suggested the same person had been involved in both incidents. The suspect fired six shots at police officers on secondment from Marseilles who were out jogging, wounding one in the shoulder, he said. | Yves Lefebvre, secretary general of the SGP Police-FO union, suggested the same person had been involved in both incidents. The suspect fired six shots at police officers on secondment from Marseilles who were out jogging, wounding one in the shoulder, he said. |
| He said the gunman had shot dead one person and seriously wounded another inside the supermarket, AP reported. | He said the gunman had shot dead one person and seriously wounded another inside the supermarket, AP reported. |
| Local newspaper L’Independant reported that two men had been involved in the initial shooting. | Local newspaper L’Independant reported that two men had been involved in the initial shooting. |
| French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb headed for the scene after talking with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is following the situation closely, according to a security official. | |
| Additional reporting by agencies |