A woman shouted ‘Help me, help me!’ to police just moments before she was caught in a deadly explosion, during a police raid in Saint-Denis.

The woman, named as Hasna Aitboulahcen, is said to be the cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged ISIS mastermind of the bloodbath in Paris on Friday in which 132 people died.

As police special forces accompanied by soldiers moved towards a flat in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of the French capital where Abaaoud was said to be holed up, she appeared at a window shortly after 6am.

It is believed that Abaaoud was also killed in the raid this morning, however French authorities have yet to confirm the death.

Aftermath: Forensics of the French police search for evidence outside a building in the northern Pairs suburb of Saint-Denis

The woman, named as Hasna Aitboulahcen, is believed to have shouted for help from police before retreating inside the building and being caught in the blast

Kalashnikovs were being used against the security forces, but after an an hour and a half of furious exchanges, there was a lull in the fighting.

It was then that the woman looked down from a third floor apartment window and shouted ‘Help me! Help me!’

The windows shattered. Lots of objects from the apartment were thrown into the street, pieces of human flesh as well. Christian, 20

An eyewitness identified only as Christian, 20, told Le Parisien: ‘During a 10 or 15 minute lull in the shooting I heard a woman shouting: "Help, help, help me!"

‘The police asked her to identify herself, and to show herself. She held her hands up but she didn’t reveal her face.

‘She withdrew her hands out of sight, and then put them up again several times.

‘They police shouted at her: ‘Keep your hands in the air!’ They told her: “We’re going to shoot.”

‘The shooting resumed. The police were firing from the roof of the building opposite. Suddenly there was an enormous explosion.

‘The windows shattered. Lots of objects from the apartment were thrown into the street, pieces of human flesh as well. They are still there. You can see a bit of the head, of skin, of ribs.’

It is believed that the 27-year-old Belgian mastermind behind the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in today's raid. However, the French authorities have not yet confirmed his death

Kalashnikovs were being used against the security forces, but after an an hour and a half of furious exchanges there was a lull in the fighting, and the 'blonde' woman appeared in the window

Police ordered the woman to identify herself, but she kept her face hidden before drawing back inside the building

Police began firing at the building again, but just moments later there was an enormous explosion from the building. Pictured, police after the explosion was heard from inside the building

Another eye witness Yasmine, 36, called the police but was told not to be concerned as it was a domestic argument.

I live across the road from the apartment. I heard her cry out and then the explosion. Witness Yasmine, 36

She told MailOnline: 'I live across the road from the apartment. I heard her cry out and then the explosion.

'I called the police but they told me it was nothing, a domestic dispute.

'I was frightened. I went to hide in the living room, away from the window overlooking the flat.

'I saw the police surround the apartment. Fast must have been about 7 o'clock in the morning. I was terrified. I'm still in shock.'

Another eyewitness gave MailOnline the first full description of the woman.

Mahdi Hadi, 22, said he was smoking in the street on the afternoon before the raid at about 3:30am when he saw her walk past to buy a takeaway at the nearby KFC.

MailOnline has been unable to independently confirm this account.

'She was not pretty. She was wearing a denim jacket and jeans and a white scarf. I did not think she looked French, maybe Brazillian,' he said.

'She had frizzy hair and was not wearing a headscarf. She was of normal weight and about 1metre 75cm (5ft 9in) tall.

Two men carry a stretcher with a body into a hearse after an intervention of security forces against a group of extremists in Saint-Denis

More than 100 armed officers stormed the flat in Saint-Denis, believing the 27-year-old Belgian jihadi leader to have been inside

'She walked past me and went into the KFC, then later came back with some food and went into the flat. She was totally casual and relaxed, nothing seemed to be worrying her.'

Thibault Chaffotte, another witness, told Liberation: ‘I heard police talking about a blonde woman with long hair. They told her: “Don’t lower your arms. Put your hands in the air.”

She was not pretty. She was wearing a denim jacket and jeans and a white scarf. I did not think she looked French, maybe Brazillian. Witness Mahdi Hadi, 22

‘Afterwards, there was a very loud explosion.It was big. Many of the windows in the road shattered.’

Hasna Aitboulahcen, 26, is a French-Moroccan national, but she grew up in the Paris region and ran her own business, Beko Construction, until 2012, according to IB Times.

The business was based to the north of Saint-Denis, in Epernay-sur-Seine, but was closed in 2014

Seven suspects in total were arrested during today's raid, which left the building so riddled with bullet holes that it had to be supported.

A rapid intervention brigade arrested three suspects at 8 Rue du Corbillon, including Jawad Ben Dow, the landlord of the apartment where the suspects were staying, and a female friend.

Before he was handcuffed and taken away by police, Dow protested his innocence, saying: ‘A friend asked me to put up two of his friends for a few days. I said there was no mattress.

Police officers detain a man on the ground inside a shopping mall in the Anti-terrorist police raid apartment in Saint Denis

The damaged building that was raided early this morning in Saint-Denis was reportedly so riddled with bullet holes that it had to be supported

A body is removed from the apartment raided by French Police special forces earlier in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis

A member of French judicial police inspects the apartment raided by French Police special forces, during an operation in which seven people were arrested and two killed

‘They told me: "It’s not a problem". They just wanted water and to pray. I was asked to do a favour, I did a favour. I didn’t know they were terrorists. I didn’t know where they came from. I didn’t know anything.’

A friend of Dow said she had stayed in the apartment herself last week and it was a ‘kind of squat’. The two visitors arrived two days ago, she said.

A second terrorist was killed by a police sniper in the raid, and it is believed that Adbelhamid Abaaoud was also killed.

More than 100 armed officers stormed the flat in Saint-Denis, believing the 27-year-old Belgian jihadi leader to have been inside.

Two senior intelligence officers told the Washington Post that the leader had been killed inside the building and identified by forensic experts.

However, French authorities have yet to confirm the death.

Families were evacuated from the area surrounding the Saint-Denis area, while armed forces secured the area

A couple talk to French army deployed on the streets of Saint-Denis after explosions are heard in an apartment in the suburb

French prosecutor Francois Molins said this evening that the two terrorists who died in the raid had not yet been identified because of the state of the bodies. He made no mention of the intelligent officials’ claims.

The raid left five French police officers injured and a police dog, seven-year-old Diesel, dead. It was carried out after security services received a tip-off on Monday that Abaaoud was ‘on French territory’.