The two brothers suspected of being involved in the massacre on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo have both been killed, according to a unnamed source and a police official.

In their final moments, the slain Charlie Hebdo suspects in the sleepy commuter town of Dammartin-en-Goele came out firing on security forces, a source quoted by Agence France-Presse added. One police officer was reportedly wounded in the strike.

Reports also emerged that the hostage taken by the suspects was unharmed and has been freed.

The news comes as French commandos launched an assault and explosions were heard from inside a printing house northeast of Paris where the suspects were holed up with a hostage on Friday.

The two suspects - suspected behind the deadly killing of 12 people at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday - earlier told police that they “want to die as martyrs.”

Audrey Taupenas, spokeswoman for Dammartin-en-Goele where the suspects are cornered, said officials established phone contact with the suspects in order to negotiate the safe evacuation of a school nearby, the Associated Press reported. She said the suspects agreed and the school was evacuated.

Yves Albarello, a lawmaker who said he was inside the command post, said the two brothers told i-Tele on Friday they "want to die as martyrs."

Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told BFMTV: "The priority is to resolve this crisis in the smoothest way possible that is without violence. The priority is to establish contact.”

The French news network says it spoke directly with two of the terrorists who held hostages at separate locations in Paris Friday, and says one of them claimed allegiance to al-Qaida in Yemen and the other to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

BFM television quoted Cherif Kouachi as saying he was financed and dispatched by al-Qaida in Yemen. It said it spoke with him as he was cornered near Charles de Gaulle airport together his brother. The two, who were later killed, are suspected of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

The men are believed to be the masked assailants who methodically opened fire on an editorial meeting of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, leaving 12 people dead in central Paris on Wednesday.

As at least three helicopters hovered, Charles de Gaulle closed two runways to arrivals to avoid interfering in the standoff, an airport spokesman said. The town appealed to residents to stay inside.



The siege in Dammartin-en-Goele unfolded after the suspects hijacked a car early Friday in a nearby town.

helicopter chase paris le figaro charlie hebdo

Tens of thousands of French security forces have mobilized to prevent a new terror attack since the Wednesday assault on Charlie Hebdo, which decimated the editorial staff, including the chief editor who had been under armed guard after receiving death threats for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. He and his police bodyguard were the first to die, witnesses have said.

Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi were named as the chief suspects after Said's identity card was left behind in their abandoned getaway car.

Said Kouachi, 34, (L) Cherif Kouach, 32 (R), are suspects and are wanted in connection with an attack at a satirical weekly in the French capital that killed at least 12 people. (AFP)

[With AP]

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:45 - GMT 06:45