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Charlie Hebdo hunt: Police storm two hostage sites Charlie Hebdo hunt: Police storm two hostage sites
(about 4 hours later)
French police have stormed two hostage sites in the Paris area, killing three hostage takers.French police have stormed two hostage sites in the Paris area, killing three hostage takers.
Two brothers suspected of the Charlie Hebdo magazine shootings were killed in an assault at a warehouse where they had held a hostage north of Paris. Two brothers who attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine on Wednesday were killed at a warehouse where they had held a hostage north of Paris.
In the second incident, anti-terror forces stormed a supermarket in eastern Paris where several hostages were being held by another gunman. In the second incident, in eastern Paris, anti-terrorist forces stormed a kosher supermarket where hostages were being held by a gunman with reported links to the brothers.
Four hostages there were killed prior to the police assault, reports say. The gunman and four hostages died.
Another four hostages were seriously injured, but 15 were freed alive, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris reports. French police do not believe that the captives were killed during the assault, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters late on Friday. He said an investigation into the deaths was under way.
The hostage taker at the supermarket is believed to have had links to the two Charlie Hebdo suspects. Another four hostages were seriously injured when police stormed the Hypercasher supermarket near Porte de Vincennes. Fifteen were safely released. Two police officers were injured in the rescue operation, AP reported.
After the police operation started, several hostages could be seen leaving the Hypercacher supermarket. It was launched shortly after the end of the siege in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris.
Two police officers were injured in the rescue operation, AP reported. The two brothers there, Cherif and Said Kouachi, came out of the building firing at police and were killed. Two police officers were injured.
In the first incident, a hostage at the warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris was also freed, while a police officer at the scene was injured, AFP news agency said. French President Francois Hollande described the events as "a tragedy for the nation".
French President Francois Hollande has described the events as "a tragedy for the nation". In a televised address, he thanked the security forces for their "bravery [and] efficiency", but added that France still faced threats. "We have to be vigilant. I also ask you to be united - it's our best weapon," he said.
"We must be implacable towards racism," he added, saying that the supermarket attack was an "appalling anti-Semitic act".
"Those who committed these acts, these fanatics, have nothing to do with the Muslim faith."
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there had been a "clear failing" in French intelligence.
"If 17 people die, this means mistakes have been made," he said, including those killed in attacks on Wednesday and Thursday in the toll.
Analysis: Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent
The actions of France's highly trained GIGN counter-terrorist police brought a swift end to a crisis that began 53 hours earlier with the armed raid on the Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo.
But a number of important questions remain. Was this attack planned and orchestrated from abroad and if so by whom? Is there any credence to claims made by the gunmen before they died that they were linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen and to Islamic State, two sometimes competing organisations? And what was the real target here, Charlie Hebdo or the entire French nation?
Questions are already being asked of French police and intelligence about how the two Kouachi brothers, well-known for their extremist views and already on US and European no-fly watchlists, were left free to acquire assault rifles and carry out the murderous raid on 7 January.
Beyond this, France has a deeper problem, coping with a growing number of violent jihadists who will see this week as only the beginning.
France sieges end: Eyewitness accounts
The police assaults came after three tense days in France.The police assaults came after three tense days in France.
Twelve people were shot dead and 11 were injured in Wednesday's attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine. The Kouachi brothers killed 12 people and injured 11 more in Wednesday's attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine.
The unprecedented attack shocked France and there has been an outpouring of sympathy and solidarity worldwide.The unprecedented attack shocked France and there has been an outpouring of sympathy and solidarity worldwide.
The two suspects of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, then went on the run for two days, before being surrounded at Dammartin as night fell on Friday. The brothers then went on the run, before being surrounded at Dammartin.
French police said they came out firing. The hostage taker in Paris has been named as Amedy Coulibaly, 32. It is not clear whether he had an accomplice but police are looking for his partner, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26.
The hostage taker in eastern Paris targeted a Jewish supermarket, Hypercacher, near Porte de Vincennes. He has been named in media reports as Amedy Coulibaly, 32. It is not clear whether he had an accomplice. Coulibaly knew one of the Charlie Hebdo attackers and their respective partners had been in regular contact in recent months, Mr Molins said.
He knew at least one of the suspected Charlie Hebdo attackers, a source told AFP news agency. During Friday's siege, Coulibaly had threatened to kill his captives if police attempted to capture the brothers, he added.
He had threatened to kill his captives if police attempted to capture the brothers, reports citing police said. Earlier on Friday, a man claiming to be Coulibaly told French TV station BFMTV that he was a member of the Islamic State militant group, and that he had "co-ordinated" his attack with the Kouachi brothers.
He was also suspected of being behind the shooting of a policewoman in the southern suburb of Montrouge on Thursday. Coulibaly has been linked by DNA tests to the killing of a policewoman in the southern suburb of Montrouge on Thursday.
On Friday, French police issued an appeal for witnesses to that shooting. They said they were looking for Amedy Coulibaly, as well as a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, 26. How the day unfolded (all times GMT)
Hayat Boumeddiene's whereabouts are not clear. 07:00 - The Kouachi brothers hijack a car in Montagny-Sainte-Felicite, north of Paris. They are said to be carrying weapons including a rocket launcher.
08:30 - Pursued along the N2 road towards Paris, they exchange fire with police and take refuge in a printing works in Dammartin-en-Goele. They take the manager hostage.
10:30 - The manager is released, but another employee remains in the building.
12:15 - A man identified as Amedy Coulibaly takes several people hostage at a supermarket near Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris. Coulibaly is also suspected of having shot dead a policewoman on Thursday.
16:00 - The brothers emerge in Dammartin, opening fire on police. Both men are killed. The trapped employee is released and tells police he had been hiding on the second floor, unknown to the gunmen.
16:15 - Security forces move into the supermarket in Paris and kill Coulibaly. It emerges that four hostages at the supermarket have been killed, but 15 others are freed.
18:55 - Addressing the nation, President Hollande calls for France to "remain vigilant" and praises the "courage, bravery and efficiency" of the police forces.