France: Military lock-down French suburb in manhunt for terror 'mastermind'

A heavy French military presence patrolled the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, Wednesday, as security forces launched a manhunt for people suspected of masterminding, with some undertaking, Friday's Paris attacks. The manhunt follows a police raid on an apartment in which the alleged mastermind of Friday's attacks was holed up. Three people were reportedly killed during the operation, including one suspect and a woman who blew herself up; while five police officers are reported to have been injured, and seven suspects detained. Details of casualty numbers and arrests are unconfirmed and based on a range of media reports from the scene of the raid. The alleged mastermind of Friday's attacks, Abdel-Hamid Abu Oud, is the reported target of the operation; alongside Salah Abdeslam and a ninth suspected shooter. It is unclear whether any of the suspects are among the killed or the detained. French President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency meeting on the ongoing raid with Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Justice Minister Christiane Taubira. The gunfire was reported just days after 132 people were killed and more than 349 injured, in a series of coordinated attacks at six different locations across Paris on Friday evening. At least 87 of those victims were killed after shooters opened fire during a concert at the Bataclan theatre, taking dozens hostage before detonating suicide bombs. Dozens more were killed in attacks at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and at a string of popular bars and restaurants. The so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the series of attacks.