The man who claimed responsibility for a killing spree in southern France had separated from his wife days before the attacks and was suffering “psychological difficulties”, his lawyer said.

An Islamic extremist who boasted of killing seven people died today after jumping from his window, gun in hand, in a fierce shootout with French police.

The man suspected of carrying out an al-Qaida-linked killing spree, Mohammed Merah, is dead after a 32-hour siege in Toulouse, a police union official says.