Two hostage sieges came to a bloody and dramatic climax today after police stormed two buildings in France, killing the Charlie Hebdo gunmen and their accomplice.
At the first stand-off, Al Qaeda brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi were shot dead by special forces as they tried to fight their way out of a print works.
Their hostage, named as Michel Catalano, is believed to have been rescued alive.
Moments later, explosions were heard at a second siege in Paris where a fellow jihadi was threatening to kill captives if police stormed the Kouachis.
At least one hostage is believed to have survived that stand-off, at a kosher supermarket, in what appears to have been a co-ordinated strike by police.
However, there are reports four captives had been killed.
The gunmen, Amedy Coulibay, who was suspected of murdering a police officer yesterday, was reportedly shot dead by police.
Gunfire and explosions had been heard at the first hostage siege after police had surrounded the gunmen at an industrial estate 25 miles from Paris.
The siege reached a bloody climax when the brothers reportedly 'came out firing' after a nine-hour stand-off.
They had earlier told police negotiators: 'We are ready to die as martyrs'.
At around 4.30pm, people living nearby reported hearing three or four loud explosions followed by several gunshots.
More explosions followed and smoke could be seen rising from the building. Others reported seeing ambulances race to the scene.
A short time later three French special forces officers could be seen on the roof of the building.
Then, at around 5.30 pm, three large helicopters arrived at the scene and landed on the roof. The hostage was named as Michel Catalano.
His family were gathered at their detached home in the nearby village of Othis as the siege came to a dramatic end in Dammartin-en-Goele.
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Bloody climax: A huge ball of fire erupts amid gunfire and explosions at a print works where the Charlie Hebdo gunmen were holding a hostage
Explosions were seen moments later at a second hostage siege in Paris where an accomplice was threatening to kill captives if police stormed the Kouachis
Police were last night stationed outside the property. One officer told MailOnline: 'The family are all here. They have come to support Mrs Catalano. They are all gathered together but they are too upset to speak.'
Atlantis Farina, 17, who lives close to the scene was returning from high school shortly after 4pm when he heard explosions.
'The ground here started shaking, that is what shocked me most,' he said. 'Then there was lots of what sounded like gunfire, it sounded like the suspects were firing back at the police.
'There was smoke too - like they had thrown a grenade. I am so glad it is over, it bought panic to the area. My mum was very worried, and I was quite scared too.'
Philippe Lapotre, 63, was at his home across a field from the factory when he heard the explosions followed by gun fire and came out to see.
'My friends and family have been calling me all day to see if I was ok,' he said. 'When I came out, three huge Puma helicopters came over.'
Carole and Thierry Charpentier were at home when the siege ended. 'We have been at home, just watching the television all day,' said Mrs Charpentier.
'We are so very relieved it is over, and are glad the police have got the suspects and the hostage is free.
'We would like the thank and praise the police and the special forces. But we are angry too, that this had happened. We are angry at what horrible things they have done'.
In Paris, police say Coulibaly, 32, was using the hostages as a bargaining chip to try to scupper the police response further north.
A man carrying a small child is seen fleeing from the ordeal moments after police stormed the kosher grocery store in eastern Paris
The man is pictured in a second shot, carrying a small child in his arms while the kosher grocery remains illuminated behind him
In their sights: Police train their weapons on a building where the Charlie Hebdo gunmen are holed up with a hostage in Dammartin-en-Goele
Frantic: Police rush to the scene of the hostage-taking at an industrial estate in Dammartin-en-Goele around 25 miles from Paris
Siege: The gunmen are surrounded by police commandos who have begun negotiations to try to secure the release of the hostage
Trapped: The brothers were cornered in the premises of a printing firm after leading police on a dramatic car chase
Scoping it out: Police and armed forces take up positions in Dammartin-en-Goele after landing by helicopter in fields near the hostage scene
Suspects: The three men were named as Cherif Kouachi (left), 32, his brother Said Kouachi (right), 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers
He was said to be working with a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, considered ‘armed and dangerous’, and is said to have yelled at police: 'You know who I am' when they responded to the shooting.
MailOnline understands that police had earlier scrambled phone signals in the area after the gunmen contacted Coulibay while inside the building.
Revelations that a call was made by the Kouachis suggests they may have instructed Coulibay to carry out today's atrocity to leverage their escape.
There were reports of another alert near the Eiffel Tower, with police seen training their guns down the stairs of a Metro station, but it was a false alarm.
Local media reports that the brothers met Coulibay while in prison.
He is believed to be a fellow member of the Buttes Chaumont – a gang from the 19th arrondissement of Paris that sent jihadists to fight in Iraq.
The Kouachis were cornered in Dammartin-en-Goele, around 25 miles from the capital, this morning after leading police on a dramatic car chase.
After exchanging gunfire with officers, they fled on foot into printing works where they are holding a hostage, believed to be a 26-year-old male.
After a meeting with President Hollande when news of the siege broke, MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said: 'It's time to terrorise the terrorists'
Hemmed in: Police officers create a ring of steel around the industrial estate where the Charlie Hebdo killers are holding a hostage
MailOnline understands police scrambled phone signals in the area after the gunmen made contact with a fellow jihadist from the building
How three days of terror unfolded after gunmen first stormed the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris on Wednesday
A salesman called Didier later told how he was supposed to meet a client called Michel at the print works, but was instead met by one of the gunmen.
He said he shook hands with the militant because he had identified himself as a police officer and was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle.
He said: 'When I arrived, my client came out with an armed man who said he was from the police.
'My client told me to leave so I left,' Didier said, identifying the man he was to meet with as Michel.'
He said the black-clad man who was wearing a bullet-proof vest told him: 'Leave, we don't kill civilians anyhow'.
'That really struck me,' Didier added. 'So I decided to call the police. I guess it was one of the terrorists.
'It could have been a policeman if he hadn't told me "we don't kill civilians". They were heavily armed like elite police.'
'I didn't know it was a hostage situation, or a robbery. I just knew something wasn't quite right. I think I am going to go and see my colleagues and play the lottery because I was very lucky this morning.'
Meanwhile, a worker in a nearby building told how he barricaded the doors as the hostage crisis unfolded.
He said: 'None of us feel safe. We can hear the helicopters. It is terrifying.'
One of the pupils inside the Dammartin-en-Goele school said by phone from inside: 'We're scared. We've called our parents to make sure they're OK.
'We've been told we have to stay inside. All the lights have been switched off.'
On guard: A police officer stands along a road near the industrial estate in Dammartin-en-Goele, some 25 miles north-east of Paris
Police check vehicles near the industrial estate. Residents were warned to stay indoors and pupils were being kept inside school
Snipers had their weapons trained on the building and helicopters were hovering overhead as negotiations were underway with the Islamic fanatics.
Runways have been closed at Charles de Gaulle airport, around five miles away over fears the gunmen have rocket launchers that can down planes.
Police confirmed a hostage had been taken and that officers are 'trying to establish contact' with the suspects.
The family of Michel Catalano, the director of the firm at the centre of the siege told Le Figaro newspaper that they had not spoken to him since this morning and feared he may be the hostage.
Mr Catalano and his wife Veronique live in Othis, less than four miles from the scene.
After a meeting with President Hollande when news of the siege broke, politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said: 'It's time to terrorise the terrorists.'
Referring to Islam, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: 'We are in a war against terrorists, we're not in a war with religion.'
An Interior Ministry source confirmed that the men had said they were 'ready to die as martyrs'.
Prior to the standoff, the suspects hijacked a Peugeot 206 from a woman in Ermenonville Forest, close to the village of Montagny-Sainte-Felicite, agyer abandoning their Renualt Clio.
A teacher named Charlene Blondelle was driving to work in the morning when she saw two men with guns stop the vehicle in front of her.
It was only when she got to work at the village school that she realised the two heavily-armed men were the Kouachi brothers.
Jean Paul Douet, the mayor of the village, said Charlene saw the two men force the woman out of the car and sit in the back seat.
It is thought that she was later let out of the car as the men continued their journey to Dammartin-en-Goele.
Both women are with police officers in Nanteuil-le-Haudouin. It is not thought that the woman sustained any injuries.
Mr Douet told MailOnline: 'The car was taken at around 8.10am. The village teacher arrived at her school to see a car being hijacked in front of her.
'She saw their weapons, and in particular their rocket-propelled grenade launcher.'
French media reported the brothers were in a car when they came upon her and abandoned that to use hers instead.
She recognised them as the wanted men, a police source said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said there was an exchange of gunfire with police who were manning a roadblock on the N2 motorway as the brother sped towards Paris.
He told France Info radio that no-one was injured in the clash.
Holed up: The gunmen escaped on foot into a small printing business (above) called Creating Trend Discovery, just before 9am GMT
Terror in the midst: Dammartin-en-Goele is in lockdown, with children in its three schools being kept inside for their own protection
Dozens of police then pursued the brothers along the National 2 highway, ending in Dammartin-en-Goele, close to the area where the huge manhunt had been focused on a forest overnight.
They escaped on foot with a hostage into a small printing business named Creating Trend Discovery, just before 10am (9am GMT).
Residents were warned on the town's official website to stay indoors and pupils were being kept inside school.
Natoly Ratsimbazasy, a hairdresser in Dammartan-en-Goele, said the town - of 6,000 inhabitants - was deserted.
He told MailOnline: 'It is very quiet in the centre. We have all been told to stay indoors and away from the windows. They have sealed off the area. We are all very scared, especially for the children. We don't know how this is all going to end.'
A restaurateur in the town said: 'It is insane what is happening, I can't believe it.'
Universities and schools in the surroundings of the hostage crisis are shut for the day.
Student Nishanth Selvakumer, 20, said: 'Every one is so shocked. There is not much work in Dammartain so most people work on the industrial estate.
'In the village, they have been told to stay in their homes and stay away from the windows. The schools are all shut and the universities too.'
Rayane Bouallayuer, 18, said his 11-year-old sister and his father were barricaded into the school.
'My sister went to school at 8am but at 9am we saw on TV that the suspects came here so my father went to get her. Now they cannot leave.'
'The teachers have spoken to the kids and explained to them what happened in Paris. Yesterday they had a minutes silence at school but I think today they are very scared. Some of them were crying.
'My family is Muslim but these men are not real Muslims. They are not like me. They do not represent us. Now it is going to get much worse for us real Muslims in France. '
Stake out: Snipers train their weapons on the building as negotiations were underway with the Islamic fanatics
A helicopter searching for Charlie Hebdo suspects hovers above Dammartin-en-Goele as the net closed in on the killers
Universities and schools near the hostage scene have been shut as police set up a ring of steel around Dammartin-en-Goele
The hunt also affected flights at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, which closed two runways to arrivals to avoid interfering in the standoff or endangering planes.
The dramatic development came after thousands of police and soldiers had focused their hunt for the gunmen in a nearby forest amid fears they were planning a final 'spectacular' before capture.
The search for the gunmen last night focused on a cave in a vast forest in northern France, but had turned up nothing.
The pair left behind their identity cards in the Citroen they used for the massacre – a move which appeared deliberate, intelligence specialists said.
There was also no sign of the AK-47s and rocket launchers which they had earlier been seen with, suggesting they had taken them into the forest.
Police now fear they could take hostages or are planning a final 'spectacular' before capture as the search enters its third day.
Meanwhile, shots rang out close to the Porte de Vincennes in Paris as another hostage crisis unfolded.
'There is a hostage situation - shots have been fired,' said a Paris police spokesman, who said up to five people were originally being held in Vincennes and there were 'believed to be two fatalities'.
French police have now named the suspected hostage taker as Amedy Coulibaly, 33, while his girlfriend, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, is also believed to be involved.
Footage from a local broadcaster shows a team of heavily armed police officers swarming into the area, where a gunman linked to the Charlie Hebdo killers was holding up to five hostages in a Kosher store in eastern Paris
Armed police face off against the gunman, suspected to the person responsible for shooting policewoman Clarissa Jean-Philippe yesterda
Amedy Coulibay (left) is believed to be behind the murder of a police officer yesterday and a new hostage crisis ongoing in Paris today. He is believed to be working with his girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene (right) who is also said to be 'armed and dangerous'
Pictured: Police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe was gunned down as she attended a routine traffic accident in Montrouge at 8am yesterday
The revelation has led police to link it to the murder of 12 people around the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine on Wednesday.
Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27, was unarmed and directing traffic in Montrouge, in south Paris, when she was gunned down by Coulibay, who was still wearing body armour and using an automatic assault rifle.
The murderer has been identified by police who said he belonged to the Buttes Chaumont network, which sent Jihadi fighters to Iraq.
'He was in the same Buttes Chaumount cell as the Kouachi brothers,' said a source close to the investigation. 'He was friends of both of them.'
Two of Coulibay relatives were arrested in nearby Grigny during a police raid this morning.
Like the Kouachis, he is known to have been radicalised by an Islamic preacher in Paris, before expressing a wish to fight in Iraq or Syria.
Police officers stop two people on a scooter at gunpoint as they arrive near the scene of the hostage taking
The pair are aggressively wrestled to the ground by police officers tasked with preventing anyone coming and going from the scene
Police cordons (pictured) have been established to surround the kosher bakery, where it's thought a woman and children are held captive
Unfolding terror: A graphic showing the developments since the shootings at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris on Wednesday morning
It came as Prime Minister Manuel Valls admitted the Kouachi brothers were on the radar of the intelligence services and 'were likely' to have been under surveillance before the atrocity.
Yesterday, the brothers abandoned their car near the village of Abbaye de Longpont shortly after robbing a petrol station yesterday.
Anti-terror officers found a jihadi flag and a Molotov cocktail in the Renault Clio the gunmen hijacked to escape the French capital – and two men fitting their descriptions were seen running into the Foret de Retz, which covers an area larger than Paris.
A petrol station attendant in Villers-Cotterets told police he had seen Kalashnikovs (AK-47s) and rocket launchers in the vehicle which had sped away after the men had stolen food and water.
There are fewer than 300 residents in Longpont and armed officers were carrying out house-to-house searches as helicopters with thermal imagery equipment capable of identifying human bodies among the trees were called in.
Last night, interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a total of nine people were now in custody and more than 90 witnesses had been interviewed.
When and why that surveillance was dropped were two of the many questions being asked yesterday as a senior American counter-terrorism official confirmed that the brothers were on the US no-fly list.
But officials were tight-lipped about what else they know about them, including whether they fought in the Middle East with extremist groups.
Grief-stricken: Jeannette Bougrab, the partner of 'Charb' – Stephane Charbonnier, the editor of Charlie Hebdo – joins a rally outisde the Paris City Hall. In an emotional interview, she said she always knew he would be assassinated
CNN reported that the US 'was given information from the French intelligence agency that Said Kouachi traveled to Yemen as late as 2011 on behalf of the Al Qaeda affiliate there'.
The network said Said received a variety of weapons training from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), including on how to fire weapons. It added: 'It is also possible Said was trained in bomb making.'
In 2008, Cherif Kouachi was sentenced to three years in jail for his association with an underground organisation.
'While in jail, he came under the influence of the one-time British-based terrorist Djemal Beghal, who was sentenced to ten years in prison by the French courts for terrorist offenders.
But despite the security services knowing the men were radicalised and suspected of having been trained in military tactics in east Yemen by Al Qaeda, they were not under surveillance on Wednesday.
Last night there had already been several revenge attacks, with shots fired at a Muslim prayer room in the southern town of Port-la-Nouvelle.
A Muslim family was shot at in their car in Caromb, in southern Vaucluse, while 'Death to Arabs' was daubed on a mosque in Poitiers, central France.
FACES OF THE 12 VICTIMS OF THE CHARLIE HEBDO MASSACRE REVEALED
rench satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Charb, Tignous and Honore (Philippe Honore)
The names of the 12 people killed in cold by blood by three gunmen during a horrifying attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices on Wednesday morning have been revealed.
The dead include eight editorial staff, one worker, one visitor, one policeman, who was on the cartoonists' security detail, and one policeman who was shot dead on the street.
Heroic Muslim police officer Ahmed Merabet, who was executed by a terrorist gunman on the streets of Paris while he begged for his life.
Shocking footage of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office shows Mr Merabet on the ground and begging for mercy as he is killed casually by a gunshot to the head. Witnesses say he asked 'do you want to kill me?' before the gunman replied 'OK, chief'.
It is understood that Mr Merabet was a married Parisian cycle cop assigned to the 11th arrondissement – the Paris neighbourhood where Charlie Hebdo's office is located and known for its dining and fine wines.
As the French magazine vowed to publish next week in defiance of the massacre, one French mourner wrote: 'Ahmed Merabet died protecting the innocent from hate. I salute him.'
Elsa Cyat was the only woman to die in the massacre, while policeman Ahmed Merabet was shot dead in the streets
The second police officer to be killed in the attack was Franck Brinsolaro, 49, a brigadier and protection officer for the magazine's editor Stephane Charbonnier.
The married 49-year-old lived in Bernay, France, and was the father of two children. His wife, Ingrid Brinsolaro, is editor of the Awakening Normand, Bernay, a newspaper that belongs to the group Publihebdos, as Hebdo de Sevre et Maine.
The team at Publihebdos have released a statement regarding the killing.
It read: 'Publihebdos teams are in shock after the cowardly attack and great seriousness that hit Charlie Hebdo today.
'This barbaric attack left many victims including a downed police was the husband of Ingrid Brinsolaro, our editor at Bernay. We are devastated and very sad.'
Mr Charbonnier, the defiant editor whose satirical newspaper dared to poke fun at everything from religion to feminism and spoke out fiercely against political correctness, was another of the 12 victims.
Just two years ago, the 47-year-old - nicknamed Charb - declared: 'I am not afraid of retaliation. I have no children, no wife, no car, no credit,' he said after receiving death threats two years ago. 'It perhaps sounds a bit pompous, but I'd rather die standing than live on my knees.'
Mr Charbonnier, who took over as editor in 2009, grew up in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northern France and joined Charlie Hebdo in the early 1990s as a designer.
The magazine's cartoonists were also targeted by the gunmen in the attack.
Jean 'Cabu' Cabut, the magazine's 76-year-old lead cartoonist was an almost legendary cultural figure in France.
Known by the nickname 'Cabu', he was renowned for his quick wit and youthful style. He was also notorious for his drawing of Mohammed, which sparked fury after adorning the cover of Charlie Hebdo in 2006.
Despite all the controversy, Mr Cabut was insistent that art should not be constrained. Perhaps his most famous quote was: 'Sometimes laughter can hurt – but laughter, humour and mockery are our only weapons.'
Georges Wolinski, an 80-year-old who was as renowned for his colourful home life as he was for being a 'master of satirical illustration'.
Married twice, he once joked about his dying wish, saying: 'I want to be cremated. I said to my wife, 'if you throw the ashes in the toilet, I get to see your bottom every day'.'
Six of the Charlie Hebdo journalists and staff members killed in Wednesday's attack are pictured together in this photo, taken in 2000. Circled top from left is Philippe Honore, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Maris and Jean Cabut. Below them on the stairs, from left, is editor Stephane Charbonnier and cartoonist Bernard 'Tignous' Verlhac
Mr Wolinski was born in Tunis on June 28, 1934 to a Franco-Italian mother and a Polish Jewish father. He joined Hara-Kiri with Cabu in 1960 and became renowned for his cartoons, which spoofed politics and sexuality.
Bernard 'Tignous' Verlhac, was a renowned pacifist. The 57-year-old Parisian had been drawing for the French press since 1980 and originally made his name on comic publication L'idiot international.
Mourners were also last night paying tribute to Philippe Honore, a regular contributor to Charlie Hebdo who specialised in 'literary puzzles'. The 73-year-old was born in Vichy, central France, and was first published aged just 16.
Victim Bernard Maris was a Left-wing economist, known to readers as 'Uncle Bernard'. Heartbroken friends said the 68-year-old was a 'cultured, kind and very tolerant man'.
Also killed was Michel Renaud, who did not work for Charlie Hebdo, but had been invited to the magazine's offices as guest editor. He was the founder of 'Rendez-vous de Carnet de Voyage', a travel-themed art festival.
It has been reported that the final two victims are Frédéric Boisseau, a maintenance worker, and Elsa Cayat.
Ms Cayat, the only female victim of the gunmen, was a columnist and analyst for the magazine, according to Le Figaro.
Post mortems will be held on Thursday, according to reports citing the prosecutor of Paris, François Molins.
Read more:
- Attentat à Charlie Hebdo : les trois suspects ont été identifiés – metronews
- En direct - Les trois suspects identifiés et localisés - Libération
- Paris Attack Suspect Dead, Two in Custody - NBC News
- La traque des suspects
- Attentat à Charlie Hebdo: retour sur une journée noire - France - RFI
- Error retrieving headline. Please enter it manually.
- Via - Dail Mail
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