SAINT-DENIS, Nov. 18, 2015 (Xinhua) -- French policemen block roads near the area of an anti-terrorist police assault in northern Paris suburbs Saint-Denis, France, on Nov. 18, 2015. An anti-terrorist police assault was underway in northern Paris suburbs Saint-Denis for hunting down the 9th suspect of the Paris attacks, BFMTV reported early Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Ying Qiang/IANS)
Paris, Nov 19 (IANS) Police used more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition on the building in Wednesday's raid to catch Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, suspected to be the mastermind of Paris terror attacks, media reported.
Jean-Michel Fauverge, director of the Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (Raid) anti-terrorism force, told Le Figaro that officers believed there was one woman and two militants, armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests, inside the flat, reported The Telegraph.
Over 110 officers were involved in the police operation that lasted for over seven hours. They knew there was a possibility that Abaaoud was present in the flat. However, the fate of Abaaoud in still unclear.
Police used explosives to blast open the door, but it failed to take the occupants off guard and officers were caught in a gunfight. They used cameras on poles to survey the apartment through holes in the ceiling of the flat below.
The Telegraph reported that the police used more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition during the siege.
At least two people were killed in the raid - a woman who blew herself up with a suicide vest and another body that was found riddled with bullets - according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.
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