Two suspects killed and five arrested in dawn raids by Paris police

Two people have been killed and five arrested as police hunting the suspected orchestrator of last week’s Paris attacks raided an apartment block north of the capital, authorities said.

Police forces prepare in Saint Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. Image by AP Photo/Francois Mori

The Paris prosecutor’s office said scores of armed officers arrested three people in an apartment and another man and woman were detained nearby.

Two people were killed in the stand-off in the suburb of Saint-Denis, including a female suicide bomber who blew herself up with a suicide vest, the prosecutor said.

Officials said four police officers were injured as police laid siege to a flat, but no hostages were being held.

Authorities in the Paris suburb of St. Denis are telling residents to stay inside during a large police operation near France’s national stadium that two officials say is linked to last week’s deadly attacks. Image by AP Photo/Christophe Ena

It came as a massive police operation targeted Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of last week’s terror attacks that killed at least 129 people.

Authorities believe they traced Abaaoud to an apartment in Saint-Denis along with up to five other heavily armed people.

Repeated gunfire and explosions were heard from the scene, close to the Stade de France national stadium, where three suicide bombers blew themselves up during Friday night’s atrocities.

The woman wearing the suicide vest detonated the explosives as scores of officers raided the property, officials said.

oldiers patrol in St. Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Image by AP Photo/Christophe Ena

A police official said one person was still holed up in the besieged apartment.

Investigators have identified 27-year-old Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as the chief architect of Friday’s attacks in Paris.

A US official said Abaaoud was a key figure in an Islamic State external operations cell that US intelligence agencies have been tracking for months.

Residents said an explosion shook the neighbourhood at about 4am local time.

(Press Association)

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