PARIS TERROR: Kosher supermarket gunman killed as siege ends – four hostages dead
The three terrorists behind the bloody spate of terror attacks in France have been killed after police stormed both scenes.
Charlie Hebdo killer brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi were shot after reportedly emerging from their bolt hole firing at police.
Minutes later armed officers stormed the kosher supermarket in Paris where Amedy Coulibaly had been locked in a bloody stand off.
He had threatened to kill hostages if police acted against the Kouachis. It is feared four hostages at the kosher store have been killed.
Ambulances streamed away from both scenes after the gunfire and explosions which brought the sieges to an end.
Hostages from the supermarket could be seen being led to safety. The Kouachis’ hostage was also freed.
The operations finally brought to an end the worst spate of terror attacks in France since 1961, a murderous spree that has rocked the country.
On another day of extraordinary developments, Coulibaly, an associate of the Charlie Hebdo killers, launched a fresh strike at the Hyper Cacher kosher store in Porte de Vincennes in the east of the capital.
That came hours after the Kouachi brothers were cornered in Dammartin-en-Goele, a town around 25 miles (40km) north of Paris.
Two police officers were injured in the gun battle with the brothers.
Coulibaly, 32, was also behind the murder of a policewoman in the Paris suburb of Montrouge yesterday morning.
He is believed to have been connected to the Kouachis, who started the killing spree on Wednesday morning when they attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
All three men were known to the French security authorities.
Authorities evacuated a nearby school at around midday local time after the suspects, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, agreed by phone to allow the children safe passage, town hall spokeswoman Audrey Taupenas told the Associated Press.
“They said they want to die as martyrs,” Yves Albarello, a local politician who said he was inside the command post, told French television station i-Tele.
Alex Goldberg, who is a Former London Jewish Forum head, whose children recently attended a Jewish school close to the supermarket said: “I’m horrified and concerned for the hostages. I’m also feeling for the parents at the school, and my children”s friends locked into the school. They should have been preparing for Shabbat and not fleeing from lunatics and terror.”
“I understand that there are casualties and my thoughts go out to their families and friends.”
He added: “Let’s hope that communities can come together in this awful time and repel those who want to divide people, society and the Parisian way of life ”
At least three helicopters hovered above the town. Nearby Charles de Gaulle airport closed two runways to arrivals to avoid interfering in the standoff, an airport spokesman said.
The town appealed to residents to stay inside their houses.
The men are suspected in the attack against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris that left 12 people dead.
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