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| Second French siege as hostages taken in Paris supermarket | Second French siege as hostages taken in Paris supermarket |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Two major hostage operations are under way in France, as police cornered suspected members of the terror cell behind Wednesday’s massacre at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. | Two major hostage operations are under way in France, as police cornered suspected members of the terror cell behind Wednesday’s massacre at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. |
| The two brothers suspected of carrying out the magazine attack were surrounded by police inside a printing house in the small industrial town of Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris. One MP said they told negotiators they “want to die as martyrs”. | The two brothers suspected of carrying out the magazine attack were surrounded by police inside a printing house in the small industrial town of Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris. One MP said they told negotiators they “want to die as martyrs”. |
| Hours later a man suspected of killing a young policewoman in Montrouge on Thursday – identified in a police alert as Amedy Coulibaly, 32 – launched an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris. | Hours later a man suspected of killing a young policewoman in Montrouge on Thursday – identified in a police alert as Amedy Coulibaly, 32 – launched an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris. |
| The incident at Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris is thought to involve at least five hostages, including women and children. | The incident at Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris is thought to involve at least five hostages, including women and children. |
| Unconfirmed reports also said two people had been killed in a shootout outside the supermarket. | Unconfirmed reports also said two people had been killed in a shootout outside the supermarket. |
| Police also said they were looking for a woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, in connection with the Montrouge shooting. It was unclear whether or not Boumeddiene – reported in the French media to be the partner of Coulibaly – was also involved in the supermarket hostage-taking. | |
| French media had earlier reported a possible connection between brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi – the suspects in the Charile Hebdo attack – and Coulibaly, who appears to have been part of the same Paris-based jihadi group that helped French radicals leave the country to fight in Iraq and Syria. | |
| French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet told reporters in Dammartin-en-Goele that he was “not able to confirm with certainty” reports that the Kouachi brothers had taken one or more hostages. | French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet told reporters in Dammartin-en-Goele that he was “not able to confirm with certainty” reports that the Kouachi brothers had taken one or more hostages. |
| Chérif Kouachi, 32, was imprisoned for 18 months for his role in a network sending volunteers to fight alongside al-Qaida militants in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. Both he and Coulibaly were also investigated after being implicated in a plot to break a militant leader out of jail in 2010, according to court documents obtained by French media. | Chérif Kouachi, 32, was imprisoned for 18 months for his role in a network sending volunteers to fight alongside al-Qaida militants in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. Both he and Coulibaly were also investigated after being implicated in a plot to break a militant leader out of jail in 2010, according to court documents obtained by French media. |
| It was unclear whether police in Dammartin had spoken to the Kouachis. Brandet said: “Attempts were being made … as a top priority” to establish contact. But Yves Albarello, UMP MP for Seine-et-Marne, told @itele television that the fugitives had “declared they wanted to die as martyrs”. | It was unclear whether police in Dammartin had spoken to the Kouachis. Brandet said: “Attempts were being made … as a top priority” to establish contact. But Yves Albarello, UMP MP for Seine-et-Marne, told @itele television that the fugitives had “declared they wanted to die as martyrs”. |
| At Porte de Vincennes in Paris, BFM TV reported the hostage-taker had been heard to shout “You know who I am” before barricading himself inside the building. AFP reported that at least one person had been injured at the supermarket, on the Avenue de la Porte de Vincennes. | At Porte de Vincennes in Paris, BFM TV reported the hostage-taker had been heard to shout “You know who I am” before barricading himself inside the building. AFP reported that at least one person had been injured at the supermarket, on the Avenue de la Porte de Vincennes. |
| At Dammartin, an eyewitness interviewed by France Info radio said he alerted police after seeing the Kouachi brothers, who were inside the company, Création Tendance Découverte (CDT), when he arrived. | At Dammartin, an eyewitness interviewed by France Info radio said he alerted police after seeing the Kouachi brothers, who were inside the company, Création Tendance Découverte (CDT), when he arrived. |
| “My client came to the door,” the witness, Didier, told the station. “I shook his hand, and the hand of one of the terrorists. They said: ‘It’s the police. Get out. In any case we don’t kill civilians.’” | |
| Didier said he had not recognised the men and thought at first they were police officers. He said: “They were dressed like special forces, black uniform, bullet-proof vests … heavily armed, Kalashnikov-type rifles. If he hadn’t said, ‘We don’t kill civilians,’ it could have been the police.” | Didier said he had not recognised the men and thought at first they were police officers. He said: “They were dressed like special forces, black uniform, bullet-proof vests … heavily armed, Kalashnikov-type rifles. If he hadn’t said, ‘We don’t kill civilians,’ it could have been the police.” |
| French media identified the company as CDT, which manufactures signage and exhibition stands for other companies. Based in Paris, it employs five people at its workshop and storage depot in Dammartin, a town of 8,000 inhabitants now in lockdown. | French media identified the company as CDT, which manufactures signage and exhibition stands for other companies. Based in Paris, it employs five people at its workshop and storage depot in Dammartin, a town of 8,000 inhabitants now in lockdown. |
| A thousand children have been evacuated from the town’s schools and local hospitals have been placed on alert. One resident, Grégory, told BFMTV by telephone: “Everyone here is blocked in their homes. There are four of five helicopters flying overhead and an extraordinary number of police and gendarmes.” | A thousand children have been evacuated from the town’s schools and local hospitals have been placed on alert. One resident, Grégory, told BFMTV by telephone: “Everyone here is blocked in their homes. There are four of five helicopters flying overhead and an extraordinary number of police and gendarmes.” |
| Irène, 82, who lives in the road along from CDT, told Libération: “I saw a lot of police officers in the street, so I switched on my television. That’s how I found out what was happening. I’m scared, I’m really scared. All my children a calling me.” | Irène, 82, who lives in the road along from CDT, told Libération: “I saw a lot of police officers in the street, so I switched on my television. That’s how I found out what was happening. I’m scared, I’m really scared. All my children a calling me.” |
| Two of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport’s runways were closed because of their proximity to the operation, forcing flights to land on its two southerly runways. Some flights were reportedly rerouted, Le Parisien reported. | Two of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport’s runways were closed because of their proximity to the operation, forcing flights to land on its two southerly runways. Some flights were reportedly rerouted, Le Parisien reported. |
| The Paris prosecutor’s office denied reports that one or more people were killed in the shootout, which took place at about 8.30am at a roadblock outside Dammartin, about half an hour by car from the large wooded area where the gunmen are thought to have hidden on Thursday night. | |
| The two men, suspected to have shot and killed 10 members of Charlie Hebdo’s staff and two policemen in a cold-blooded attack at the satirical magazine’s Paris offices on Wednesday, were apparently heading back towards the capital after abandoning the Renault Clio they had been travelling in at the village of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité, where they hijacked a grey Peugeot 206. | The two men, suspected to have shot and killed 10 members of Charlie Hebdo’s staff and two policemen in a cold-blooded attack at the satirical magazine’s Paris offices on Wednesday, were apparently heading back towards the capital after abandoning the Renault Clio they had been travelling in at the village of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité, where they hijacked a grey Peugeot 206. |
| “The car was taken at around 8.10am,” Jean-Paul Douet, the mayor of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité told Le Parisien. “The village teacher arrived at her school to see a car being hijacked in front of her. She saw their weapons, and in particular their rocket-propelled grenade launcher.” | “The car was taken at around 8.10am,” Jean-Paul Douet, the mayor of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité told Le Parisien. “The village teacher arrived at her school to see a car being hijacked in front of her. She saw their weapons, and in particular their rocket-propelled grenade launcher.” |
| At a morning meeting with France’s prefects at the interior ministry, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said it would “doubtless be necessary to take new measures” against the threat to the country from terrorism in the wake of Wednesday’s attack. | At a morning meeting with France’s prefects at the interior ministry, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said it would “doubtless be necessary to take new measures” against the threat to the country from terrorism in the wake of Wednesday’s attack. |
| “We are in a war on terrorism. We are not in a war against a religion, against a civilisation,” Valls said, adding that the government’s policies had ensured that five planned terrorist attacks against France had been foiled. | “We are in a war on terrorism. We are not in a war against a religion, against a civilisation,” Valls said, adding that the government’s policies had ensured that five planned terrorist attacks against France had been foiled. |
| Tens of thousands of police, gendarmes and troops were deployed in the hunt for the gunmen on Thursday, using sniffer dogs, heat-seeking cameras and helicopters in and around around the towns of Longpont, Crépy and Villers-Cotterêts in the Aisne département off the N2 motorway, close to a petrol station the brothers were alleged to have robbed on Thursday morning. | Tens of thousands of police, gendarmes and troops were deployed in the hunt for the gunmen on Thursday, using sniffer dogs, heat-seeking cameras and helicopters in and around around the towns of Longpont, Crépy and Villers-Cotterêts in the Aisne département off the N2 motorway, close to a petrol station the brothers were alleged to have robbed on Thursday morning. |