Mastermind targeted, 2 killed, 7 arrested in Paris (Updated Thursday)

The Paris building in Wednesday's shootout was so severely damaged that it is still not possible to determine how many died and who they were, a French prosecutor said. At least two died and seven arrested, "neutralising" what was likely a terrorist cell.

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Thursday morning update

From AFP

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the raid had thwarted a "team of terrorists that... could have struck".

At least two people were killed -- a woman thought to have blown herself up with a suicide vest and another body that was found riddled with bullets, the prosecutor said.

Police rained more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition on the building after terrified residents living in the area near the Stade de France stadium were evacuated.

A series of explosions rang out as the police closed in on the dwelling and one suspect was seen being dragged away, his bare buttocks exposed.

At least two bodies were found in the badly damaged building after the shootout, but identifying them was proving difficult, Molins told a press conference.

The body that had sustained a number of gunshots was "not in a state that allows it to be identified", he said.

Due to the severe damage to the building, it was impossible to know how many died and who they were, the prosecutor said.

"I am not able to give you a precise number and identity of those killed. There are at least two dead and verifications will likely take longer than expected," he added.

"A new team of terrorists was neutralised and all indications are that given their arms, their organisational structure and their determination, the commando could have struck," he said.

Evening update

CNN says today's raid uncovered a new terrorist cell, equal to or bigger than the one that carried out brutal killings last Friday.

From AFP: Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said telephone surveillance and witness statements had led police to believe that Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud was in an apartment in Saint-Denis in northern Paris.

French police were now trying to verify if the suspected commander of the attacks on Paris was among those killed and arrested in a massive police assault in the capital.

Anti-terrorist police flooded the streets near the building and soldiers were also drafted in for an operation that lasted around seven hours.

The prosecutor said at the end of the operation that investigations following Friday's attacks allowed police "to obtain telephonic surveillance and witness testimony which led us to believe that Abaaoud was likely to be in an... apartment in Saint-Denis".

But he added: "Nobody has been able to enter the building so forensic police have not started their work."

Mastermind targeted, 2 killed, 7 arrested in Paris

Paris, AFP --Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout Wednesday in north Paris with police hunting the mastermind of last week's attacks on the French capital, sources said.

As troops patrolled the streets, heavily-armed police swapped gunfire with people holed up in an apartment in the suburb of Saint-Denis, police sources said.

Two people in the apartment were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, and a third was still inside, and at least three police were injured, they said. The latest reports (20:00 our time) indicated seven arrests were made.

The operation aimed at the suspected mastermind of Friday's deadly attacks in Paris, Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who has been active with the Islamic State group in Syria, the source said.

The raid began before dawn, at around 4.30am (10.30am Bangkok time), on an apartment at the crossroads of Rue de la Republique and Rue Corbillon. Police operations were still underway seven hours later (Police have just announced at 18:00 Bangkok time that they have now ended).

Sources told the AFP news agency that the area was being secured, while the newspaper Le Figaro reported that apartments in the building were being searched.

In the early morning, several rounds of heavy gunfire and explosions were reported by eyewitnesses and journalists at the scene.

A woman in the targeted apartment set off her explosive vest at the start of the raid and died, French prosecutor Francois Molins said. A yet-to-be-identified man has also been killed, the newspaper Le Monde reported.

Five people were taken into custody, according to Molins. Three men were found inside the apartment, while a man and a woman were also detained nearby.

Abaaoud is not among those detained, the broadcaster RTL and Le Monde reported.

The area is home to the Stade de France, one of several places hit by gunmen and suicide bombers on Friday in the worst ever attack on French soil, which was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

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