海角大神

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Two dead as French police raid Paris suburb seeking terror suspect

The suburb of St. Denis awoke Wednesday to the sound of gunfire and explosions. French police continue to hunt suspects linked to last week's attacks.

By Whitney Eulich, Correspondent

An early morning raid in a Paris suburb Wednesday appeared to target Abdelhamid Abaaoud,聽the alleged mastermind of Friday鈥檚 terrorist plot, and has led to the arrests of seven people and the deaths of two. But Mr.聽Abaaoud wasn't located, according to officials.聽

Loud gunshots and occasional explosions rippled through the neighborhood of St. Denis, starting around 4:30 a.m. and lasting several hours. One woman, cornered by police, blew herself up with a vest of explosives, Radio France International reports. The raid was launched on intelligence that another attack was 鈥渋n the works,鈥 reports The Washington Post.

Police trotted through side streets and squares, weapons raised, calling for bystanders to hit the ground this morning. Some residents were evacuated 鈥 still wearing their pajamas 鈥 and schools were closed. French newspaper Le Monde wrote that St. Denis 鈥渁woke in a state of war,鈥 this morning, to the sounds of helicopters, gun shots, and the sight of camouflaged trucks and heavily armed security forces.

The聽neighborhood is known for its diversity and large Muslim population.聽鈥淭his is a city that has 130 different nationalities, including people who come from war zones. We are a population that needs serenity,鈥 Didier Paillard, the mayor of St.-Denis, told The New York Times.

Scores of raids have been conducted in Paris since Friday's deadly attacks, which left nearly 130 people dead. And 128 raids took place across France last night alone, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told聽France Info radio.

Amid the search for terror suspects, Europe鈥檚 growing migrant population has come under the microscope. The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one of the suicide bombers Friday has many concerned that the attacks will spark a backlash against the migrants flowing across the continent, 海角大神 reports.

Others are fighting back against this sentiment, noting that the attacks in Paris represent the very terror and violence most migrants are fleeing in the first place.

Ali Isar, a refugee from Afghanistan, at a migrant camp in northern France told The Monitor that the Paris attacks only confirmed his desire to flee his home.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable what happened in Paris,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 scary that there is this terrorist group in France now too.鈥

The mood in the Calais migrant camp, home to some 6,000 refugees and known as the 鈥淛ungle鈥, shifted this weekend after the Paris attacks, reports The Monitor.