Gunfire and explosions shook the Paris suburb of St Denis early yesterday, as French police surrounded an apartment where a Belgian Islamist militant suspected of masterminding last week’s attacks in the French capital was believed to be holed up.
A woman died after detonating a bomb at the scene, the French prosecutors’ office said, adding that three people in the apartment had been arrested and two others seized nearby.
Yesterday’s operation came after a source with knowledge of the investigation said a cellphone had been found with a map of the Bataclan concert hall targeted in one of the attacks and a text message saying “let’s go”.
The phone was found in a dustbin near the concert hall where 89 people died.
Late on Tuesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said two Paris-bound Air France flights were diverted following anonymous bomb threats, and hundreds of passengers and crew were safely removed.
Authorities in the US and Canada, where the planes landed, later said both aircraft had been searched and were safe.
On Tuesday night, bomb fears had prompted German police to call off a soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands in Hanover, two hours before kick-off. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been due to attend.
No arrests were made and no explosives were found.
Russia has also intensified its attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria after confirming that a bomb had downed a passenger airliner over Sinai last month, killing 224. The militants had previously claimed responsibility.
Paris and Moscow are not coordinating their operations, but French President Francois Hollande is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 26 to discuss how their countries’ militaries might work together.
Hollande is due to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24, also to push for a concerted drive against Islamic State.
Obama said in Manila yesterday he wanted Moscow to shift its focus from propping up Syria’s government to fighting Islamic State and would discuss that with Putin.
Bomb and shots in Paris raid
A woman died after detonating a bomb at the scene, the French prosecutors’ office said, adding that three people in the apartment had been arrested and two others seized nearby.
Yesterday’s operation came after a source with knowledge of the investigation said a cellphone had been found with a map of the Bataclan concert hall targeted in one of the attacks and a text message saying “let’s go”.
The phone was found in a dustbin near the concert hall where 89 people died.
Late on Tuesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said two Paris-bound Air France flights were diverted following anonymous bomb threats, and hundreds of passengers and crew were safely removed.
Authorities in the US and Canada, where the planes landed, later said both aircraft had been searched and were safe.
On Tuesday night, bomb fears had prompted German police to call off a soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands in Hanover, two hours before kick-off. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been due to attend.
No arrests were made and no explosives were found.
Russia has also intensified its attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria after confirming that a bomb had downed a passenger airliner over Sinai last month, killing 224. The militants had previously claimed responsibility.
Paris and Moscow are not coordinating their operations, but French President Francois Hollande is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 26 to discuss how their countries’ militaries might work together.
Hollande is due to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24, also to push for a concerted drive against Islamic State.
Obama said in Manila yesterday he wanted Moscow to shift its focus from propping up Syria’s government to fighting Islamic State and would discuss that with Putin.
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