Paris police exchange gunfire with suspects in suburb

Police say anti-terrorist officers are raiding an apartment in a north Paris suburb where several men are holed up.

The Paris police department says officers have exchanged gunfire with the suspects and several officers have been injured. The extent of their injuries is unknown.

It’s unclear whether there are injuries among the suspects.

Police reinforcements are arriving at the scene of the large police operation near France’s national stadium that two officials say is linked to last week’s deadly attacks.

Deputy Mayor Stephane Peu told i-Tele television that there have been many gun shots and detonations in the operation on rue de la Republique in the center of Saint Denis.

The site is less than two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Stade de France, targeted by three suicide bombers during Friday’s attacks.

A resident of Saint-Denis described intense gunfire and explosions during the police operation.

Baptiste Marie, a 26-year-old independent journalist who lives near the scene of the standoff, tells The Associated Press: “It started with an explosion. Then there was second big explosion. Then two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire.”

Resident Amin Guizani, 21, says: “There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again.”

Riot police were clearing the streets early Wednesday, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads