Police Raid In Paris Targeting Terror Mastermind Results In Gunfire, Explosions

A police operation in Paris has led to the death of at least two people and the arrests of eight more, The Guardian reports.

Updated: December 20.

Gunfire was exchanged early Wednesday morning (local time) in Saint-Denis, a suburb in the north of France, as police attempted to raid an apartment holding the suspected mastermind behind Friday’s Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

At least seven explosions were heard coming from the apartment complex. French media confirmed the death of at least two suspects targeted in the raid, including a woman who detonated a suicide belt upon the police’s intrusion of the apartment. French officials have since confirmed that Abaaoud was also killed.

It is not known if Abaaoud had similarly detonated a suicide belt. Five police officers and a passerby were injured in the skirmish and a police dog named Diesel died.

French parliament has voted to extend the country's current state of emergency for three further months.

On Thursday evening, a further nine people were arrested in Brussels for their suspected affiliation with the terror attacks.