French police have launched a raid in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, in an operation to track down suspects of Nov.13 deadly attacks in the capital.
Suspects were holed up in an apartment in the northern suburb early Nov.18 after shooting broke out during the raid by heavily armed police investigating the Paris attacks, police sources said.
Residents of the area in northern Paris first reported hearing bursts of gunfire at 4:30 a.m. (3:30 GMT), as police exchanged fire with one or more suspects.
After a short lull in the operation, at least seven explosions were heard, BFMTV channel reporter said.
Sources said that two people were killed and another two detained in the operation. The identity of the casualties was not released. Three police officers were also wounded in the initial shootout, the sources said.
French TV station BFMTV is reporting that a woman died after detonating a suicide belt when police raided the apartment.
French media said the target of the operation was Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a key suspect of Nov.13 attacks, in which at least 129 people were killed. Another suspect, Salah Abdeslam, was also said to be a target in the raid.