Three dead and seven arrests made in French shoot-out
Five people have been arrested in the stand-off in the north suburbs of Paris.
The operation was targeting the mastermind of Friday's terror attacks, prosecutors have said.
Seven explosions have been heard in the area and it is reported that two arrests have been made and three people are dead.
One of the fatalities is said to be a woman who was wearing a suicide belt, another suspect was shot by police.
The third death is said to have been a passer by.
One suspect is thought to still be in the apartment.
A number of French police are reported to have been injured, as well as one fatality, in an operation believed to be linked to the deadly Paris terror attacks.
Five suspects are said to be holed up in an apartment including the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks Abeldhamid Abaaoud.
Police in Paris said they were raiding an apartment in the suburb of Saint Denis where several of suspects linked to the terror attacks were hiding, several officers have been injured.
A police source said there had been exchanges of gunfire and SWAT teams were on the scene in the suburb of Saint Denis, just north of Paris.
Police have blocked off the area around Place Jean Jaures and ambulances could be seen and sirens heard in French television footage from the scene.
French authorities are searching for at least two people involved in last Friday’s attacks, which killed at least 129 people and seven terrorists.
Saint Denis deputy mayor Stephane Peu told i-Tele television there had been many gunshots and detonations in the operation that began at 4.25am (3.25am GMT) in rue de la Republique, in the town centre.
He urged residents to stay home, saying: “It is not a new attack but a police intervention.”
The area is less than 1.2 miles from the Stade de France, targeted by three suicide bombers during Friday’s attacks.
French television BFM and i-Tele said that the suspects were inside an apartment building.
Police vans and fire engines were rushing to the scene and a helicopter flew overhead.
Police cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings.
Resident Fabien Crombe said gunshots had broken out repeatedly since the police operation began, punctuated by silence and the sound of sirens.
Saint Denis mayor Didier Paillard said all transport had been stopped and schools in the town centre would be shut today.
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