Hostages Killed In Paris Supermarket Siege

Hostages escaping while commandos storm Paris supermarket

At least four hostages and a jihadist gunman have been killed in a deadly Paris supermarket siege.

Commandos stormed the supermarket minutes after two brothers behind the slaughter at Charlie Hebdo magazine were killed at a second siege on the outskirts of Paris.

The special forces team raided the shop as the gunman began his evening prayer.

Six explosions were heard at the Jewish supermarket in Porte de Vincennes and several hostages were seen running, or being carried, from the store.

At least one of those being carried out was a small child. Fifteen hostages were freed alive.

It was initially hoped that all hostages in the shop had been saved - but it is now clear that a number died.

Others have been critically wounded, including a police officer.

Reports in the French media suggested that at least some of the hostages were killed before the raid.

Reports that a gunman may have escaped from the siege were dismissed as "unlikely" by officials.

The hostage-taker at the Paris store was linked to the killer brothers who were holding another hostage at a commercial building at Dammartin-en-Goele, near to Charles de Gaulle airport.

The supermarket gunman - named as Amedy Coulibaly - had threatened to kill the hostages if police moved in on the brothers at Dammartin.

He told a French TV station that he was a member of the Islamic State group and was in cahoots with the Charlie Hebdo killers who were his "officers".

In a telling detail, revealed by BFMTV, the supermarket attacker did not hang up the phone properly after talking to its reporters, allowing the police to overhear him.

And it was as he knelt to do his evening prayer that they stormed the building.

Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "After news came through of the situation Dammartin there seemed to be a sense of urgency here.

"We heard four very quick explosions that lasted between them seven seconds I suspect."

There were another two explosions shortly afterwards.

Minutes later hostages were pictured being carried out, or running out, of the market - as sirens wailed across the city.

Sources reported that police managed to hack video surveillance at the market to keep a close eye on what was happening inside.

It is also understood that officers were secretly communicating by phone with one of the hostages.

It is understood that police may have managed to close down communication between the hostage-takers in the two sieges.

Source: Sky News

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One victim killed in Paris attacks was Muslim police officer Ahmed Merabet

Police have named the a police officer who was killed during an attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday as Ahmed Merabet, 42, who happened to be patrolling the area at the time and is believed to be Muslim.

Mr Merabet is seen in footage released by Reuters begging the gunmen to spare his life in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, where the offices of the publication are situated, before he was shot more than once. The man is survived by his wife.

After being shot the first time, the gunmen wearing balaclavas and holding Kalashnikov rifles are seen running past the police officer – who had his hands up in surrender – and shot in his direction again at point-blank range as he was lying on the pavement outside the offices.

The masked gunmen is heard asking the police officer “Do you want to kill me?” before he allegedly replied “No, it is OK chief” before one of them shot him a second time round amid an attack described as the worst in France in 50 years.

First victim of #CharlieHebdo attack was French Muslim cop Ahmed Merabet.

Another officer, Franck Brinsolaro, was also shot dead by the three attackers suspected to be brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who are in their early 30s, and the third suspect who turned himself to the police last night named as 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad.

Mr Brinsolaro, who was the police bodyguard of Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphane Charbonnier and was sitting in the editorial room when the gunmen shot the cartoonists and journalists dead, is survived by his wife and two children.

“They knew the risks they were facing in carrying out their duty and clearly showed great bravery in trying to prevent the terrorists murdering others. We stand in solidarity and express our great sympathy for their families and friends.

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At least 12 dead in Paris after attack on satirical newspaper

At least 12 people were killed in a shooting Wednesday at a French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has published cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, police told reporters.

Two police officers were among those killed. Currently, the number of injured people is thought to be around 20, of which four are critically wounded, according to Reuters.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told media that security forces were hunting for three gunmen, who fled towards the eastern Paris suburbs after holding up a car.

"There is possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured," Police union official Rocco Contento told Reuters.

The 12 dead included two men who went by the pen names: Charb - the editor and a cartoonist as well - and the cartoonist Cabu, the Paris prosecutor's office told the Associated Press.

France's terror alert was raised to the highest level after the shooting, President Francois Hollande told local media. He confirmed that several terrorist attacks had been foiled by security sources over recent weeks.

Hollande later tweeted: "No barbaric act will ever shoot down press freedom. We are a united country that can react and unite."

"Two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (guns)," journalist Benoit Bringer told French news channel iTELE, according to Reuters. "A few minutes later we heard lots of shots," he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.

A picture from the as-yet-unverified account of Le Monde journalist Elise Barthet apparently shows the shooters firing on a police car.



Charlie Hebdo is renowned for courting controversy. In 2012 it published cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, forcing France to temporarily close its embassies and schools in more than 20 countries amid fears of reprisals.

Its offices were also firebombed in November 2011 after publishing the Muhammad cartoon.

The magazine's last tweet before the shooting was of a cartoon of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of terrorist organization ISIS.

A series of rallies under the slogan "Je Suis Charlie" (I am Charlie), have been called across France this evening in support of freedom of the press.

Global Reaction

World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press."

Source: CNBC

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