PARIS (AP) – Police raided an apartment in suburban Paris as they searched for the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks that killed 129 people. Here are some of the key developments Wednesday:
POLICE RAID: Police swooped down on the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in a pre-dawn raid of an apartment where they believed the mastermind of last week’s attacks was holed up, but it was not clear Wednesday evening whether he had been inside. The seven-hour siege ended with two deaths and eight arrests. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Islamic State militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud was not among those arrested, but there was no immediate word if he was among the dead. Molins described the dead as a woman who blew herself up with an explosive vest and a man “who was hit by projectiles and grenades.”
LIFE MUST GO ON: President Francois Hollande urged his countrymen to defy terrorists by going back to their normal way of life, visiting cafes, museums and sports stadiums, and not caving in to fear and xenophobia. In a speech following the police siege, Hollande proclaimed that France is “at war” with the Islamic State group, but warned against overreactions and said no anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic or xenophobic acts will be tolerated. In a speech to French mayors he stressed that “life must resume in full” and promised extra security to ensure that museums and popular tourist sites can reopen. “Our duty is to get on with our lives.”
NAVAL BUILDUP: Britain said one of the Royal Navy’s most advanced warships, the HMS Defender, will support a French aircraft carrier that is on its way to help operations against IS militants in Syria. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the British ship will provide air defense cover for the Charles de Gaulle carrier, which has left the French port city of Toulon.
ISLAMIC STATE REPEATS CLAIM: The Islamic State group again claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris. In its English language magazine, the group said it will continue its violence and “retaliate with fire and bloodshed” for insults against the Prophet Muhammad and “the multitudes killed and injured in crusader airstrikes.” The magazine also included a claim that the group killed a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage and photographs of the bomb that it said brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31.