Manhunt for suspected terrorists: Major operation in progress

The suspected Charlie Hebdo gunmen have exchanged fire with police as they holed an industrial estate near a Paris airport with at least one hostage. There had been reports that at least two people were killed and several wounded before Cherif and Said Kouachi entered business premises in the village of Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris, but prosecutors have denied reports of casualties.

Police commandos have surrounded a storage unit and begun negotiations with the suspects amid reports they have taken hostages. As helicopters hovered overhead, France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: “A police operation is underway.” Flights into the nearby Charles de Gaulle international airport have been aborted due the proximity to the siege and locals locked themselves inside their homes. A source close to the investigation said the suspects were in a small printing business named Creating Trend Discovery. “It’s not sure how many people are inside,” the source said. Prior to the standoff, the suspects had hijacked a Peugeot 206 in Montagny-Sainte-Felicite from a woman who said she recognised them as the wanted men, a police source said. Dozens of police had earlier pursued the brothers along the National 2 highway, ending Dammartin-en-Goele, around 7 miles from Charles de Gaulle international airport. Shots were reportedly fired and people wounded.

The standoff was close to the same area where special police forces had been combing the countryside for the brothers. The dramatic development came after thousands of police and soldiers had focused their hunt for the gunmen in a nearby forest amid fears they were planning a final “spectacular” before capture. The dramatic development came after thousands of police and soldiers had focused their hunt for the gunmen in a nearby forest amid fears they were planning a final “spectacular” before capture. The search for the gunmen last night focused on a cave in a vast forest in northern France, but had turned up nothing.

 News Source: pinoynewsportal