Violent end to Charlie Hebdo manhunt in France
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The hostage situations in France have been ended on Friday afternoon. (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)
By Peter Teffer
French police have killed the two men suspected of the Charlie Hebdo murders, but the incident prompted a second terrorist attack.
The huge manhunt, involving around 88,000 police and military personnel, on Friday (9 January) intercepted Said and Cherif Kouachi in Dammartin-en-Goele, a town 30 kilometres from central Paris.
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The men entered a printing company and took one person hostage.
But they were killed when police stormed the building at around 5pm local time. The hostage was unhurt.
Earlier the same day, at least one attacker also took hostages in a Jewish supermarket in Paris and issued demands for the police to end the Kouachi siege.
Police stormed the supermarket almost simultaneously at 5pm, also killing the attacker.
It was later confirmed that four hostages were killed.
The Kouachis are said to have carried out the assault on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday, killing 12 people.
The attackers chanted Islamic slogans, with Charlie Hebdo known for publishing Mohammed cartoons.
Friday’s police operations bring to an end the three-day security crisis in the French capital.
But the week’s events risk provoking social tension.
They are also likely to shape French and European security policy in the coming months, with French leader Francois Hollande to give a TV speech at 8pm and with EU foreign ministers to discuss the problem at their next meeting on 19 January.
