Officials: 3 hostage-takers dead after France standoffs
French police stormed a printing plant north of Paris on Friday, freeing a hostage and killing two brothers linked to al-Qaida who were suspected of slaying 12 people at a Paris newspaper two days ago.
A security official says the brothers came out firing, prompting the assault by police. The official was not authorized to speak about the sensitive operations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
- A police helicopter circles over Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast Paris, as part of an operation to seize two heavily armed suspects, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015. French security forces swarmed a small industrial town northeast of Paris Friday in an operation to capture a pair of heavily armed suspects in the deadly storming of a satirical newspaper. Shots were fired as the brothers stole a car in the early morning hours, said a French security official, who could not immediately confirm reports of hostages taken or deaths later in the day in the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
- Nepalese journalists participate in a candlelight vigil in solidarity with victims of the attack on French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Jan 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
- Rome’s Capitol Hill, designed by Renaissance artist and architect Michelangelo Buonarroti, is lit with the colors of the French flag to express solidarity with those killed in an attack at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, methodically killing 12 people Wednesday, including the editor in chief, before escaping in a car. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
- Workers install a giant banner reading ìI am Charlieî for victims of the shooting at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, on the Cannes Festival Palace, in Cannes, southeastern France, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015. 12 people were killed last Jan. 7 in a terrorist attack at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
- Mourners gather during a rally in support of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly newspaper that fell victim to an terrorist attack, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at Union Square in New York. French officials say 12 people were killed when masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the periodical that had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
- A heart formed by melted candles is on the ground of the Old-Port to pay tribute to the victims of the satirical newspaper “Charlie-Hebdo”, in Marseille, southern France, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, a day after masked gunmen stormed the offices of a satirical newspaper and killed 12 people. French police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men ó one with a terrorism conviction and a history in jihadi networks ó in the methodical killing of 12 people at a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
- Thousands of people gather for a moment of silence to pay their respects to the victims of the deadly attack at the Paris offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Lyon, central France, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, killing at least 12 people, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
- SWAT police officer patrol in the village of Longpont, north east of Paris, hunting down the two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre at Charlie Hebdo newspaper, Thursday, Jan.8, 2015. Scattered gunfire and explosions shook France on Thursday as its frightened yet defiant citizens held a day of mourning for 12 people slain at a Paris newspaper. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
- French police officers patrol in Longpont, north of Paris, France, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Scattered gunfire and explosions shook France on Thursday as its frightened yet defiant citizens held a day of mourning for 12 people slain at a Paris newspaper. French police hunted down the two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre to make sure they don’t strike again. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- Armed security forces fly overhead in a military helicopter in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, Friday Jan. 9, 2015. French security forces swarmed this small industrial town northeast of Paris Friday in an operation to capture a pair of heavily armed suspects in the deadly storming of a satirical newspaper. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- Flowers and pens and placards lie after being placed to show solidarity with those killed in an attack at the Paris offices of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Trafalgar Square, London, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, methodically killing 12 people Wednesday, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
- People make a cross with pencils during a protest promoted by the NGO Rio de Paz, in solidarity with those killed in an attack at the Paris offices of the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Niteroi, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed on Wednesday, the Paris offices of the weekly, methodically killing 12 people including the editor. It was France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
- Police forces gather together at Porte de Vincennes, east of Paris, after at least one person was injured when a gunman opened fire at a kosher grocery store on January 9, 2015 and took at least five people hostage, sources told AFP. The attacker was suspected of being the same gunman who killed a policewoman in a shooting in Montrouge in southern Paris on January 8. (Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)
- A French police officer stands on the roof of a building where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen, in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of the capital, on January 9, 2015. The hostage drama unfolded at a printing business in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, only 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Paris’s main Charles de Gaulle airport, police sources said. (Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images)
- Muslim devotees offer noon prayers while attending the World Muslim Congregation, also known as Biswa Ijtema, at Tongi, on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, on January 9, 2015. Muslims attending one of the world’s largest religious gatherings joined the chorus of condemnation January 9 over the deadly attack on a French satirical weekly, saying the killings ran contrary to the tenets of Islam. Bangladesh’s Biswa Ijtema, or World Muslim Congregation, is the world’s second largest Islamic gathering after the Hajj with devotees coming from all over the globe to pray and hear imams preach for three days. (Hasan Raja/AFP/Getty Images)
- A woman looks early on January 9, 2015 at floral tributes left outside the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris for the victims of the January 7 massacre at the weekly, which left 12 dead. France deployed elite forces in the hunt for two brothers accused of killing the 12 people in an Islamist attack on the satirical weekly, as the pair spent a second night on the run despite a huge security operation. The brothers were thought to have carried out the attack, the worst in France for half a century, in revenge for the weekly’s repeated publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed. (Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)
- Toyota’s driver Christian Lavieille of France and co-driver Pascal Maimon compete during the Stage 5 of the Dakar 2015 between Copiapo and Antofogasta, Chile, on January 8, 2015. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
- Armed gunmen face police officers near the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015, during an attack on the offices of the newspaper which left eleven dead, including two police officers, according to sources close to the investigation. (Anne Gelbard/Getty/AFP photo)
- A bullet impact is seen in a window of a building next to the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar!” stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 12 people, including the paper’s editor, before escaping in a getaway car. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- A police car riddled with bullets during an attack on the offices of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris which left eleven dead, including two police officers, according to sources close to the investigation. At least 11 people were killed when gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs and a rocket-launcher opened fire in the offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7. (Getty Images)
- Ambulances gather in the street outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 11 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
- Police officers and rescue workers gather at the scene after gunmen stormed a French newspaper, killing at least 12 people, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar!” stormed the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including the paper’s editor and a cartoonist, before escaping in a getaway car. It was France’s deadliest terror attack in at least two decades. (Remy de la Mauviniere/AP photo)
- An injured person is treated by nursing staff outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. France has raised its alert to the highest level after what President Francois Hollande said was a “terror attack” at the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris. Xavier Castaing, head of communications for the Paris police prefecture, has confirmed that at least 11 people were killed. (Thibault Camus/AP photo)
- A victim is evacuated on a stretcher on January 7, 2015 after armed gunmen stormed the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, leaving at least 11 people dead. (Martin Bureau/Getty Images)
- An injured person is transported to an ambulance after a shooting, at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 11 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015, after armed gunmen stormed the offices leaving at least one dead according to a police source and “six seriously injured” police officers according to City Hall. (Philippe Dupeyrat/Getty Images)
- Forensic experts examine the car believed to have been used as the escape vehicle by gunmen who attacked the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 11 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims. (AP Photo)
- A combination of file photos made on January 7, 2015 shows (from Left) French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo’s deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Charb and Tignous. At least 12 people were killed, including cartoonists Charb, WolinsKi, Cabu and Tignous and deputy chief editor Bernard Maris when gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs and a rocket-launcher opened fire in the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015. (Guillaume Baptist/ Bertrand Guay / Francois Guillot /Getty Images)
- A hand out photo taken on October 2014 in Paris and released on January 7, 2015 by French magazine “L’amateur de cigares” shows French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo’s publisher, known only as Charb. At least 12 people were killed, including cartoonists Charb, Wolinski, Cabu and Tignous, when gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs and a rocket-launcher opened fire in the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015. (Luc Monnett /Getty Images)
- French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira reacts outside of the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015, after armed gunmen stormed the offices leaving twelve dead. (Kenzo Tribouillard/Getty/AFP photo)
- A cartoon tribute drawn by MacLeod was released in solidarity with those killed in an attack at the Paris offices of the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo after masked gunmen stormed their offices on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. As if to prove that pens are mightier than swords, cartoonists around the world reacted to the cold-bloodied assassination of their colleagues at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as only they can: with powerful drawings worth a thousand words. Defiant, angry, poignant, irreverent and sobering, their drawings united cartoonists in grief, tried to make sense of the nonsensical, and sent a shared message: We must not, will not and should not be silenced. Some drawings made one want to both laugh and cry. (MacLeod Cartoons/AP photo)
- This photo released by French Police in Paris early on January 8, 2015 shows Said Kouachi, aged 34, a suspect wanted in connection with an attack at a satirical weekly in the French capital that killed at least 12 people. French police on January 8 published photos of Said Kouachi and his brother, wanted as suspects over the bloody massacre at the magazine in Paris, as they launched an appeal to the public for information. (AFP photo / French police)
- This photo released by French Police in Paris early on January 8, 2015 shows Cherif Kouachi, aged 32, a suspect wanted in connection with an attack at a satirical weekly in the French capital that killed at least 12 people. French police on January 8 published photos of Cherif Kouachi and his brother, wanted as suspects over the bloody massacre at the magazine in Paris, as they launched an appeal to the public for information. (AFP photo / French police)
- Residents are seen during a police operation in the “Croix-Rouge” suburb of Reims, northern France early January 8, 2015 following the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 dead in Paris. French police are hunting three men, including two brothers, suspected of carrying out the attack , a source close to the investigation told AFP. Police are searching for two brothers in their thirties, including one who was sent to prison in 2008 for participating in jihadist networks attempting to send fighters to Iraq. The third suspect is aged 18, the source added. (Francois Nascimbeni/AFP/Getty Images)
- Forensic police officers look for evidence relating to the three suspects of the shooting attack at the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s headquarters in Paris, in an apartment located in the Croix Rouge neighborhood in Reims, east of France, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Police hunted for three heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of a dozen people Wednesday at the office of the satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (Thibault Camus/AP photo)
- Police are seen during an operation in the “Croix-Rouge” suburb of Reims, northern France early January 8, 2015 following the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 dead in Paris. French police are hunting three men, including two brothers, suspected of carrying out the attack , a source close to the investigation told AFP. Police are searching for two brothers in their thirties, including one who was sent to prison in 2008 for participating in jihadist networks attempting to send fighters to Iraq. The third suspect is aged 18, the source added. (Francois Nascimbeni/AFP/Getty Images)
- Police are seen during an operation in the “Croix-Rouge” suburb of Reims, northern France early January 8, 2015 following the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 dead in Paris. French police are hunting three men, including two brothers, suspected of carrying out the attack , a source close to the investigation told AFP. Police are searching for two brothers in their thirties, including one who was sent to prison in 2008 for participating in jihadist networks attempting to send fighters to Iraq. The third suspect is aged 18, the source added. (Francois Nascimbeni/AFP/Getty Images)
- Journalists hold placard reading “I am Charlie” as they hold a minute of silence, on January 7, 2015 at the redaction of French news agency Agence France Presse, following the attack by gunmen in the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. (Bertrand Guay/Getty/AFP photo)
- Supporters display placards during a gathering at the Place de la Republique (Republic square) in support of the victims after the terrorist attack earlier today on January 7, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed, including two police officers, as two gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
- A man with a logo on his jacket that reads in French, “I am Charlie” and a pen in his mouth, stands with other during a rally in Lyon, on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo. France’s Muslim leadership sharply condemned the shooting at the Paris satirical weekly that left at least 12 people dead as a “barbaric” attack and an assault on press freedom and democracy. (Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images)
- A woman cries as she holds up a pen during a vigil in Lyon on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo in the capital. (Jeff Pachoud/Getty/AFP photo))
- People gather around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique (Republic square) in support of the victims after the terrorist attack earlier today on January 7, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed, including two police officers, as two gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
- A woman lights a candle during a gathering in Lyon, central eastern France, on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo. (Jeff Pachoud/Getty/AFP photo))
- A woman places a candle at a vigil at the Place de la Republique (Republic Square) for victims of the terrorist attack, on January 7, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed, including two police officers, after gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
- Pens are thrown on the ground as people hold a vigil at the Place de la Republique (Republic Square) for victims of the terrorist attack, on January 7, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed, including two police officers, after gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
- People gather around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique (Republic square) in support of the victims after the terrorist attack earlier today on January 7, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed, including two police officers, as two gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
- A man holds a candle and a sticker reading ” I am Charlie”, during a demonstration in Paris. Three masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar!” stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, Wednesday, killing 12 people, including its editor, before escaping in a car. It was France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (Christophe Ena/AP photo)
- People hold posters as people gather in Trafalgar Square in central London to show their respect for the twelve people killed in Paris today in a terrorist attack at the headquarters of satirical publication “Charlie Hebdo” on January 7, 2015. (Leon Neal/Getty/AFP photo)
- People hold up pens during a gathering in front of the city hall of Rennes, western France, on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo. France’s Muslim leadership sharply condemned the shooting at the Paris satirical weekly that left at least 12 people dead as a “barbaric” attack and an assault on press freedom and democracy. (Damien Meyer/Getty/AFP photo))
- People gather to pay respect for the victims of a terror attack against a satirical newspaper, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar!” stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people, including the paper’s editor, before escaping in a getaway car. It was France’s deadliest terror attack in living memory. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- People take part in a demo to show solidarity for the victims of the attack on the offices of France’s satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in Bogota, Colombia on January 7, 2015. Cities and towns worldwide staged vigils late Wednesday in solidarity with the French people after the massacre by Islamist gunmen in Paris against a satirical paper left at least 12 dead. (Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images)
- People hold the French national flag and posters with the words “Je Suis Charlie” (I Am Charlie) outside the Newseum January 7, 2015 in Washington, DC in solidarity with the victims of the shooting at the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by three gunman that took the lives of 12 people. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP photo/Getty Images)
- Mourners hold signs depicting victim’s eyes during a rally in support of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly newspaper that fell victim to an terrorist attack, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at Union Square in New York. French officials say 12 people were killed when masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the periodical that had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (John Minchillo/AP photo)
Security forces had surrounded the building for most of the day. After the explosions, police SWAT forces could be seen on the roof of the building and one police helicopter landed near it.
Another official, police union representative Christophe Crepin, said it appeared that a gunman who took hostages at a kosher market had also died in a nearly simultaneous raid there.
France has been high alert since the country’s worst terror attack in decades — the massacre Wednesday in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.