Gunfire and explosions were heard in Saint-Denis early on Wednesday (18 November) as RAID police, French special operations, surrounded an apartment in search of suspects linked to last Friday`s attacks.
Police sources said the target of the operation is Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris attacks, after reports claimed he may not be in Syria`s Raqqa, as initially believed.
Abaaoud, a 28-year-old of Moroccan origin, has been linked to a number of terror plots and recruitment efforts in Europe over the past two years. The eighth suspect in the attack, Salah Abdeslam, was also said to be a target in the raid.
Two attackers were killed, including a woman who detonated a suicide belt, and five people were arrested. Five French police officers were lightly wounded in the operation. No civilian casualties were reported.
A police dog was also killed in the raid, it has emerged.
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