BREAKING NEWS: TWO brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper have been killed after elite police stormed the building they were holed up in and freed a hostage unhurt, sources close to the investigation said.

As night fell on Friday, explosions rang out when heavily-armed commandos made their move on a small printing firm in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, killing the two massacre suspects. One police officer was injured.

Said and Cherif Kouachi were holed up with a hostage for several hours, surrounded by more than 1500 police officers.

According to French media reports the brothers came out firing before they were killed.

“There were several bursts of gunfire that lasted about 10 seconds. Since then we’ve heard four or five explosions,” Sky News’ Ian Woods, who is at the scene, said.

It came as explosions were heard at the Paris Jewish supermarket where at least six hostages have been held by a gunman linked to the Kouachi brothers.

ROLLING COVERAGE: TWO people have been killed in a hostage siege at a Jewish supermarket in Paris, as 1500 heavily armed police surrounded the Charlie Hebdo terrorist suspects in an industrial estate 40km north east of the French capital.

More than 80,000 personnel are on the ground to tackle the two dangerous hostage situations, as anti-terrorist police work to start a “dialogue” with the Charlie Hebdo attack suspects.

Simultaneous explosions and gunfire were heard at both hostage sites, with reports all hostages were set free.

A police source told AP Islamic militant Amedy Coulibaly is currently holding at least five people hostage in kosher market, Hyper Cacher, in Porte de Vincennes, and threatening to kill them unless the Charlie Hebdo suspects are set free.

Coulibaly allegedly burst into the store about 1pm Friday local time with two machine guns, killing two people.

He is believed to be the same man suspected of killing policewoman Clarissa Jean-Philippe in Montrouge on Thursday morning.

DEVELOPING: New shooting, hostage taking at Paris kosher supermarket

OFFICER KILLED: Unlikely symbol of Paris attack

HOSTAGE: ‘I was spared for being a woman’

The terrifying siege in the supermarket developed as the two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, Said and Cherif Kouachi, took refuge in a small printing warehouse in the village of Dammartin-en-Goele, near a Paris airport.

Explosions were seen about 4pm local time at the printing warehouse where the men, who are vowing to die as martyrs, took a woman hostage. The men hijacked a car from a woman early Friday morning, engaged in a shootout and a high-speed chase with police before hiding in the warehouse.

An official described the dual hostage situations as “clearly linked”.

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The siege under way in Dammartin-en-Goele

Counter terrorist police have initiated an assault on printing works where the Kouachi brothers are holed up, and ambulances are driving to the scene.

A round of small explosive blasts have been heard alongside bursts of gunfire where the shooting began just before 4pm local time.

Heavily armed commandos currently on roof of building where Charlie Hebdo terrorists holed up with hostage. More gunfire/explosions. — Peter Allen (@peterallenparis) January 9, 2015

About 1500 Gendarmerie, counter terrorist police and specialist paramilitary tactical RAID group were immediately deployed to Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Charlie Hebdo suspects are cornered, and placed the entire city into lockdown.

There are also reports heavy military vehicles are being transported to the site of the siege.

Snipers were placed on rooftops overlooking the warehouse with helicopters coordinating the swoop from overhead as local schools were put into lockdown.

Nearby residents were told to remain in their homes with doors and windows locked, lights switched off and to avoid passing near windows.

Building in Dammartin-en-Goele where #CharlieHebdo suspects believed to be holed up http://t.co/BXIQYIqT0R pic.twitter.com/HSzL3gK9eT — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) January 9, 2015

The al-Qaeda trained brothers reportedly had taken at least one hostage. It was believed to be a woman which has given police some hope there will not be further bloodshed since the gunmen have said they did not kill women.

Police negotiators had made contact fairly soon after surrounding the men who told them they were “prepared to die as martyrs” and to “die through martyrdom”.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said all were prepared for a long stand off.

“An operation is under way which is set to neutralise the perpetrators of the cowardly attack carried out two days ago,” Mr Cazeneuve said.

Second siege under way at kosher shop in eastern Paris

At least two people have been killed in a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris where a heavily armed terrorist has taken at least five hostages.

The suspected gunman, 32-year-old Amedy Coulibaly, fired several shots at the supermarket, called Hyper Cacher, in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris, about 1pm Friday local time.

Coulibaly reportedly told police officers: “You know who I am.”

He is allegedly the same man who shot and killed a police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe in Montrouge on Thursday.

Police have now named him and his partner, 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene, as suspects in the police officer’s death. It is not known if Boumeddiene is also at the second siege.

Sources told AFP that Coulibaly knew at least one of the suspects in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

He was seen with Charlie Hebdo suspect Cherif Kouachi in 2010 during an investigation into an attempted prison break in France. Coulibaly was convicted for his role and was well-known to anti-terrorist police.

Police have evacuated all shops in the Jewish district with reports the gunman is demanding the Kouachi brothers be immediately freed.

🔴 TERRORISME Article du Parisien en juillet 2009. Le tueur de Montrouge rencontrait N.Sarkozy (via @davidopoczynski) pic.twitter.com/mXjzE6G6OU — infos140 (@infos140) January 9, 2015 Sub-type: commentCAPTION: 🔴 TERRORISME Article du Parisien en juillet 2009. Le tueur de Montrouge rencontrait N.Sarkozy (via @davidopoczynski) pic.twitter.com/mXjzE6G6OU— infos140 (@infos140) January 9, 2015 Source:AFP Sub-type: commentCAPTION: 🔴 TERRORISME Article du Parisien en juillet 2009. Le tueur de Montrouge rencontrait N.Sarkozy (via @davidopoczynski) pic.twitter.com/mXjzE6G6OU— infos140 (@infos140) January 9, 2015

Police vans on Cours de Vincennes https://t.co/OQSHAtRo7k — Tim Chester (@timchester) January 9, 2015

Good pics via Twitter from the scene of Paris supermarket (witholding names for time being) #Vincennes pic.twitter.com/UslCXRfEmO — Mark Frankel (@markfrankel29) January 9, 2015 Sub-type: commentCAPTION: Good pics via Twitter from the scene of Paris supermarket (witholding names for time being) #Vincennes pic.twitter.com/UslCXRfEmO— Mark Frankel (@markfrankel29) January 9, 2015 Source:AFP Sub-type: commentCAPTION: Good pics via Twitter from the scene of Paris supermarket (witholding names for time being) #Vincennes pic.twitter.com/UslCXRfEmO— Mark Frankel (@markfrankel29) January 9, 2015

Terror in Dammartin

Meanwhile, Dammartin residents say they are terrified and are worried about those “trapped” in schools and away from family.

Marion Geney from one high school said everyone was “really scared”.

“We all call our parents to know if they are OK or not. And yes we have to wait. They say to us to stay in the high school and to be calm but we can’t because we are really scared.”

The older of the two brothers Said travelled to Yemen in 2011 and trained as a terrorist. Police on the site have been told these were hardened men and anything could happen.

One witness told French media he had an appointment at the printing warehouse and when he turned up he saw a large an in black combat gear with a rifle.

He shook the man’s hand believing him to be a police officer before the man ordered him to leave the area and added “go, we don’t kill civilians”.

Such was the scale of the police operation last night the nearby Charles de Gaulle Airport was being forced to reroute flights to runways away from the zone.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France is at “war” with terrorism, but not religion.

And as a dramatic manhunt saw police corner the suspects in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele north of Paris, Valls said it would “certainly be necessary to take new measures” to response to extremist threats.

He said that current policies had resulted in five attacks being foiled since August 2013.

“We knew we could be hit,” he said, adding he had no doubt the French would emerge stronger from the incident.

“What are terrorists looking for? To create fear, to pit the French against each other — and we must be stronger than that.”

Killing of police officer in Montrouge

As the hostage drama continues. police have revealed that the killing of a Paris policewoman yesterday is now being linked to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27, was killed when she was on patrol as a municipal police officer in the suburb of Montrouge in Paris on the evening following the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo offices where 12 people including two police were slain.

Ms Jean-Philippe was shot in the head after she stopped at what she thought was a traffic accident. Witnesses reported her killer wore a bullet proof vest and was armed with a handgun and automatic rifle but authorities initially said the murder was not linked to events earlier in the day.

However yesterday authorities said they now believed the two incidents were linked; it is believed they were not the same gunmen but there appeared to be some connection to the two at the fake traffic accident and the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi suspected of being behind the shooting at the satirical magazine.

Survivors recall what happened

Horrific accounts from survivors of the massacre are emerging, along with a terrifying picture from the bloody scene.

In the photograph, the Charlie Hebdo newsroom is covered in blood, loose pieces of paper littering the red and muddy floor where 12 people were slaughtered on Wednesday morning.

Journalists Sigolène Vinson and Laurent Léger have given chilling recounts of the massacre they survived. Vinson has told of how a gunman grabbed her as she tried to crawl away, told her to calm down and said he would not shoot her because she was a woman.

Meanwhile, seven out of the 11 hospitalised survivors have been released by doctors. Four remain critical, two of whom are conscious.

The French government raised the security level to “Alert for an attack” in the region of Île-de-France and Picardy, a government website has confirmed.

This will involve upgrading security at media outlets, department stores, shopping centres, major transport stations, places of worship, government buildings and schools.

The massive manhunt for the two brothers on Thursday zeroed in on the Retz forest after the two men were spotted at a petrol station near Villers-Cotterets (L’Aisne) — with their faces uncovered.

Police then found vehicle abandoned nearby.

A source close to the case told French media that molotov cocktails and jihadist-style flags had been found in another vehicle used by the suspected attackers that was abandoned in Paris soon after Wednesday’s assault.

French officials say a total of 11 people are now in custody and more than 90 witnesses have been interviewed.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 80,000 police and soldiers had been mobilised to take part in the manhunt and guard public buildings.

‘Don’t be afraid, I won’t kill you: you are a woman’

Two days after the massacre, survivors are recalling the horror of their ordeal.

Laurent Léger, a French journalist working for the satirical newspaper, told radio station French Info about what really happened that fateful day.

“It was the end of the meeting that we have every Wednesday morning. Suddenly we heard what sounded like firecrackers, we didn’t know exactly what it was.

“Then the door burst open and a guy came in shouting ‘Allah akbar’,” he said.

“He looked like a guy from GIGN (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group) he was holding a gun with both hands. He started firing and then (there was) the smell of powder.

“I’m still asking myself how I managed to escape (Leger threw himself under a table in the corner out of the line of sight of the shooter).”

Unlike Léger, freelance journalist Sigolène Vinson, who had come in that morning to take part in the meeting, knew exactly why she survived.

At first, when the shooting began, she thought she would die.

Then, one of the gunman spotted her crawling away, grabbed her, and said: “Don’t be afraid, calm down, I won’t kill you. You are a woman.

“But think about what you’re doing. It’s not right.”

He then turned to his partner and shouted: “We don’t shoot women! We don’t shoot women! We don’t shoot women!” reported the New York Times.

Léger has also commented on the condition of Charlie Hebdo’s social media editor, Simon Fieschi, who is dating 27-year-old Australian Maisie Dubosarsky.

“He is not doing well,” Léger said in an interview on French radio.

Léger held Fieschi’s hand as he lay, shot, after the massacre.

Ms Dubosarsky, a writer and the daughter of award-winning children’s author Ursula Dubosarsky, said she found out about her partner’s condition through a text message.

It is understood Fieschi has been placed in an induced coma after being shot in the shoulder. There are now fears he may not walk again after doctors discovered the injury was worse than initially thought, with the bullet ricocheting off his spine and puncturing a lung.

Doctors will know more about Fieschi’s condition when it becomes safer to wake him.

New details emerge on suspects

The Kouachi brothers — 32-year-old Cherif and 34-year-old Said — emerged as the subject of a huge manhunt after the precision attack Wednesday that killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly that lampooned radical Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad himself.

US officials said Thursday both were on the US no-fly list “for years” and that the older brother had travelled to Yemen, although it was unclear whether he was there to join up with extremist groups such as al-Qaeda.

Said was a ladies’ man who belted out rap lyrics before the words of a radical preacher persuaded him to book a flight to Syria to wage holy war.

Cherif, a former pizza deliveryman, had appeared in a 2005 French TV documentary on Islamic extremism and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for trying to join up with fighters battling in Iraq.

CLICK HERE to see an excerpt of the documentary

After he was released from prison, he worked in a supermarket’s fish section in the Paris suburbs for six months beginning in 2009. Supervisors said he gave no cause for concern.

In 2010, police detained him again in a probe of an alleged plot to free an Islamic militant sentenced to life in prison for bombing a Paris train line in 1995. Kouachi was ultimately released with no charges ever brought.

A third man, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, is suspected of being an accomplice in the attack.

The teenager turned himself into police after seeing his name on social media.

His classmates had created a Twitter account declaring him innocent and at school at the time of the shooting handed himself in, with police sources saying he had seen his name “circulating on social media”.

Officers searched forest for fugitives

On Thursday, there were reports the two fugitives, still armed, had been spotted at a petrol station in Villers-Cotterets, with the manager reportedly telling police he “recognised the two men suspected of having participated in the attack against Charlie Hebdo.”

Paramilitary officers swarmed the area concentrating their search on a zone of around 15 to 20 kilometres bordering the L’Aise region and the L’Oise region of northern France, French news broadcaster TF1 reported.

Heavily armed police in head-to-toe tactical gear were seen in the village of Longpont near to the forest of Retz, a 13,000-hectare woodland where the brothers are suspected to be hiding out. Police blocked a rural road.

Benoit Verdun, a hotel worker in Longpont, told Sky News: “There are lots of policemen. I can see a huge police car. They are asking people ‘Have you seen anybody?’ They have big guns with them ... The forest is bigger than Paris — it is very big and very wide.”

A door-to-door search was also conducted in the nearby village of Corcy.

Police prepare to enter huge Foret de Retz, near the small village of Longpont, where brothers thought to be hiding pic.twitter.com/aD5SdMD8mk — Harriet Alexander (@h_alexander) January 8, 2015

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French websites hacked

A 17-year-old with “no connection” to Middle East terror group Islamic State has been identified as being behind a hack attack which defaced several French local government websites.

Sites for the cities of Jouy-le-Mouthier, Ezanville and Goussainville (all in the Val d’ Oise) have had their homepages replaced with the distinctive black Islamic State banner along with messages supporting the attack Wednesday on a Paris newsroom.

“The Islamic State Say Inchallah, Free Palestine, Death To France, Death To Charlie” has been written on the homepage of multiple websites.

Le Monde reported that: “As many of our readers report, several municipalities in the Val d’Oise websites were hacked, and display a similar homepage”.

Fear grips Paris

Paris residents fear for their safety as the men responsible for the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo — which left 12 dead and injured 20 — remain at large.

The two gunmen wearing ski-masks opened fire on senior staff seated for the morning editorial meeting, shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest”), about 11am Wednesday local time.

With the massive manhunt still underway Islamic State group’s radio has praised as “heroes” the gunmen behind the attack.

“Jihadist heroes have killed 12 journalists who worked for the French magazine Charlie Hebdo and wounded more than 10 others, to avenge the Prophet (Mohammed),” said a statement read on Al-Bayan radio.

The Charlie Hebdo massacre was a targeted organised attack carried out with what police described as military precision by known terrorists trained as assassins in Yemen.

France remembers victims

Vigils have been conducted throughout France as the last of the 12 victims was named.

Ahmed Merabet was a police officer — the son of immigrants from mainly Muslim North Africa — who was shot dead on the sidewalk by one of the assailants as they started their getaway.

“He himself was a Muslim,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters. “This is another reminder of we’re facing together. This is not a war on religion. ... It is an assault on our common humanity.”

France’s iconic Eiffel Tower went dark in a sombre tribute to the victims of the shootings. The lights normally illuminating the 324-metre-tall monument at night went out at 8pm local time on Thursday, according to the office of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Eiffel Tower lights turned off in memory of the #CharlieHebdo victims pic.twitter.com/opRW7OYAfh — Thomais Papaioannou (@ThomaisERT_RIK) January 8, 2015

French President Francois Hollande, who led the mourning from Notre Dame Cathedral, said the whole of the French Republic was a target and had been “struck in the heart” as he ordered public services to come to a halt at midday local time and urged all French men and women to join them. He declared three days of mourning.

Other cities including Sydney and Melbourne also held vigils to pay tribute to the victims of the attack.

President Hollande vows to hunt terrorists down

President Francois Hollande vowed to “hunt them as long as necessary” as he branded them cowards and called on the “nation in mourning” to rally together.

“An act of indescribable barbarity has just been committed today in Paris,” he said. “Measures have been taken to find those responsible, they will be hunted for as long as it takes to catch them and bring them to justice.”

The Charlie Weekly magazine is well known for its irreverent portrayals of heads of state and religious leaders and hours before the attack mocked Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It was fire bombed three years ago after a series of cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad and had two armed policemen on site after the offices received deaths threats several months ago.

Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief Gerard Biard only escaped the massacre because he was in London.

With the men at large still, there were fears today of further attacks.

“There is a possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured,” police union official Rocco Contento said.

Countries unite with France against terrorists

Speaking in French, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has close ties to France, condemned the attack while Obama offered all the support his country could offer.

“France is America’s oldest ally, and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight against terrorists who threaten our shared security and the world,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “This abominable act is not only an attack on the lives of French citizens and their security. It is also an attack on freedom of speech and the press, core elements of our free democratic culture.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the attacks as sickening.

Gilles Boulanger, who works in the same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices, likened the scene to a war zone.

“A neighbour called to warn me that there were armed men in the building and that we had to shut all the doors,” he said.

“And several minutes later there were several shots heard in the building from automatic weapons firing in all directions. So then we looked out of the window and saw the shooting was on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, with the police. It was really upsetting. You’d think it was a war zone.”