Dual hostage crisis ends: Charlie Hebdo suspects killed, ‘several hostages freed’ at Paris market, AFP says
French police moved decisively to end the two hostage crises that have convulsed the country since early Friday morning in the wake of the murders of 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo office on Wednesday.
Shortly before 5pm local time explosions and smoke were seen rising over the premises of a small printing company in Dammartin-en-Goële, a town 5km northeast of Charles de Gaulle airport, where special forces had earlier cornered Said and Cherif Kouachi, the brothers suspected of attacking the magazine’s head office, and who had taken one person hostage.
Minutes later, explosions were heard coming from a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris, where a gunman had taken six people hostage at Friday lunchtime.
Agence France Presse quoted police officials as saying that both the Kouachi brothers were killed in the Dammartin-en-Goële assault and the hostage freed.
Police are also believed to have killed the supermarket gunman and freed “several” hostages. Two police officers were reportedly injured in the assault.
FM Baron Bodissey:
French Police Kill Suspects at 2 Hostage Sites
French gendarmes block access to the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, France, on Jan. 9, 2015.
Last updated on: January 09, 2015 11:43 AM
PARIS—
French authorities say the two suspects in Wednesday’s Charlie Hebdo attack have been killed during a police raid, and a sepatrate raid in the capital killed another gunman holding multiple hostages at a kosher supermarket.
The two men, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, had taken a hostage and were cornered at a print shop in Dammartin-en-Goele, a town about 40 kilometers northeast of Paris.
A police official said the suspected gunman at the supermarket, 32-year-old Amedy Coulabaly, is believed to be the same man who shot and killed a policewoman south of Paris on Thursday. Authorities also are seeking a woman described as his accomplice, Hayet Boumeddiene.
Police sources had linked Coulabaly to the Kouachis, suspected of killing 12 people in the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Chérif Kouachi, left, and Said Kouachi are shown in photos released by the Paris Préfecture de Police.Before the gunshots erupted Friday afternoon in Dammartin-en-Goele, French security forces said they were in contact with the brothers, who had at least one hostage with them.
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