As it happened: France sieges end

1. French forces storm two separate hostage sites in and around Paris on 9 January, killing three hostage takers
2. Charlie Hebdo suspects Said and Cherif Kouachi killed at a printing warehouse north of Paris
3. One employee trapped in the printing works was rescued
4. Hostage-taker, named by officials as Amedy Coulibaly, also killed in assault on Paris supermarket
5. Four hostages killed and another four seriously injured at the supermarket, officials say

We're bringing to an end our live coverage of the dramatic near simultaneous police raids that resulted in the killings of the two Charlie Hebdo suspects and a third gunman who took several people hostage at a supermarket in eastern Paris.

France is continuing to mourn for the Charlie Hebdo victims, as well as four of the hostages killed during Friday's supermarket siege. You can follow further updates, as well as background material on the story, on the BBC News website.

AFP

Asterix is Charlie

Perhaps France's best-know cartoonist has shown his solidarity too. Albert Uderzo, who co-created Asterix, released these two images telling Le Figaro he wanted to show his "affection" for the cartoonists who had died.

LE FIGARO

An Asterix cartoon released in tribute to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attacks

@asterixofficiel

Get involved

Ian Benton emails: We live in the Marais 5 minutes walk from the Charlie Hebdo offices. We are British/American with our little 24 month old boy and expecting our little girl in May. Paris is a big but small city so wherever you live it is close to what is happening. This is also why Paris will always rebound stronger and more unified as the community spirit is what really makes it the city of lights. Vive la France :-)

Police video of raid

Another video released by French police shows the moment special forces launched a raid on the print workshop in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Charlie Hebdo suspects were hiding out.

Other

Other

Dramatic footage

Amateur footage broadcast by France2 TV shows the storming of the supermarket. The shop shutters open slowly to reveal a body lying as police quickly approach the entrance. They fire into the building.

The shot is frozen when a man dressed in black - possibly the hostage taker - appears running towards the door. Dozens of police enter the supermarket and hostages run onto the street. A body is then seen being dragged out of the shop. It is not clear whether it is that of the gunman.

France TV 2

Get involved

Francis Huicq in London emails: It will take time to heal our wounds, I have never felt myself this feeling of revolt, deep pain, distress and of being so far away from my country and my relatives and I have never been in a situation of crying at the view of newspapers or watching and hearing the news. The positive in this is the reaction and unity my fellow citizens have shown and also the support felt from abroad.

'Toulouse est Charlie'

AFP

In an earlier entry, we told you how the Arc de Triomphe has been lit up to say "Paris is Charlie" - there is a similar message of solidarity in Toulouse.

Francois Molins

Paris Prosecutor

Only five people now remain in detention, including the wife of one of the Kouachi brothers.

Picture: Mr Molins speaking at the press conference.

AFP

Francois Molins

Paris Prosecutor

Can confirm that the search for the supermarket attacker's girlfriend, Hayat Boumeddiene, is still ongoing.

Iona Craig, Yemen, journalist

tweets: Written statement from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) sources claimed AQAP leadership directed Paris attacks. Official video from AQAP praises, but does not claim.

Francois Molins, Paris Prosecutor

Police were able to identify Coulibaly's DNA from a cloth found near the scene of the deadly attack on a policewoman in Montrouge on Thursday. He was identified within two hours.

Francois Molins, Paris Prosecutor

It is likely four of the hostages were killed when the gunman entered the Jewish supermarket, and not during the special police operation that ended the siege. The gunman had called a TV station to say that he had killed four of the hostages.

Francois Molins, Paris Prosecutor

Coulibaly and his girlfriend, Hayat Boumeddiene, spoke more than 500 times to the Kouachi brothers over the phone.

Printing works employee 'hid'

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, speaking at a conference, says that an employee at the printing works where the Kouachi brothers were in Dammartin-en-Goele, was hiding on the second floor underneath a sink. The brothers did not realise there was another person hiding in the warehouse.

Get involved

Giulia Gotti

Giulia Gotti sent in her pictures and says France needs to "make a new step" after the tragedy

Kouachi brothers' neighbours 'found weapons'

The Globe and Mail's Mark Mackinnon tells BBC Newshour that he met a Tunisian woman who was living next door to one of the Kouachi brothers.

"She had been concerned about her neighbours for quite some time, and described how she heard the brothers praying loudly through the walls. She thought they may be extremists so her husband broke in with the help of a plumber and discovered a cache of weapons. The brothers caught them, and forced them to promise not to tell the police."

Julia Macfarlane

Police 'heard gunman praying'

According to French media, police were able to monitor what was happening inside the supermarket when the gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, failed to hang up properly after speaking to them. The BFMTV news channel says this was what enabled the police to hear what was going on in the background, as they heard the hostage taker saying a prayer.

AP

Forensic experts are still investigating the hostage site at the Jewish supermarket as night-time draws in.

AFP

Questions over accomplices

It is still not clear whether the supermarket gunman, 32-year-old Amedy Coulibaly, had an accomplice or not. Police had earlier issued an appeal saying they were looking for Coulibaly and a 26-year-old woman called Hayat Boumeddiene after both were suspected of involvement in the fatal shooting of a policewoman in a southern Paris suburb on Thursday.

Police are still actively searching for Ms Boumeddiene, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Several old photos of the two have been published on Le Monde's website, some of which show them both firing a small crossbow.

@NickiMickeyB tweets: @BBC_HaveYourSay I stand with France! #JeSuisCharlie The pen remains mightier than the sword! #HealingofParis begins tonight! #VivelaFrance

What were the indications?

Security services could not hope to keep close tabs on everyone with terrorist sympathies, but there were important questions to be asked nonetheless, the Royal United Services Institute's Shashank Joshi tells the BBC.

"The question isn't so much 'did they slip through?' - they certainly did - but what were the indications? Were there any indications they were acquiring weaponry, for example; that is a failure. They built up a weapons cache; there are some indications their neighbours knew about the weapons cache. The failure to have forewarning of that is a failure, but I think it is important to remember that there are hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of people on these lists. No intelligence agency can track them all."

Get involved

@MineParis81

@MineParis81 tweets her photo of the "Paris est Charlie" sign on the Arc de Triomphe.

#JeSuisCharlie makes hashtag history

#JeSuisCharlie is now one of the most popular hashtags in Twitter's history, says Twitter France.

Julia Macfarlane

"Clear failing" in French intelligence

Manuel Valls

French Prime Minister

"There is a clear failing. When 17 people die, it means there were cracks (in security)."

PM Valls made the comments to French channel BFMTV.

Get involved

@HugoJoel9tweets: @BBC_HaveYourSay You can kill the messenger but you can't kill the message. je suis charlie #charliehebdo

Morocco and Egypt vigils

A Moroccan man holds a sign in French and Berber during a vigil in Rabat, Morocco.

AFP

There was another candlelit vigil in Cairo, Egypt.

AP

Frank Gardner

BBC security correspondent

tweets: Indications are that Kouachi brothers appeared to live 'a normal life' so fooled French authorities into thinking they weren't a threat.

Jack Garland

BBC Newsnight

A difficult day in Paris, but heartening to see relieved parents picking up their kids from schools in the Porte de Vincennes area, now lifted from lockdown.

Jack Garland/BBC Newsnight

Residents are starting to return to their homes in the area of Porte de Vincennes that was earlier under siege.

Getty Images

James Longman, BBC reporter, Paris

tweets: Walking through lifted siege zone. Slowly coming back to life. Strangers stop to ask shopkeepers if they are ok. Uplifting #ParisAttack

'15 hostages rescued'

An unnamed Israeli official, quoted by AP, says 15 hostages were rescued from the Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris. The official was recounting a conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Francois Hollande.

Obama to France: 'US stands with you'

US President Barack Obama tells France: "The United States stands with you." Speaking on a trip to Tennessee, he says he has been in contact with the French authorities over the Paris shootings and that he is hopeful the immediate threat is now resolved.

AP

Sunday rally

The French president also confirmed he would be attending a unity rally in Paris on Sunday "to stand up for France's values". UK Prime Minister David Cameron, his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among the European leaders expected to join the march.

AP

President Hollande has condemned the attack at the Jewish supermarket in Paris as "a dreadful anti-Semitic act".

But he said France would face further threats and that it would not give into fear. He called the gunmen "fanatics" who did not represent the Muslim faith. The French "mustn't be divided," he said.

Hollande tribute to police

President Hollande said he wanted to pay tribute to "the bravery and efficiency of all the police who took part in today's operations...to tell them that we are proud of them".

"They did it to save lives, and to neutralise terrorists who had committed murders."

President Francois Hollande confirms four people were killed in the Paris supermarket attack, speaking in a live televised address.

'Supermarket gunman phones TV station'

BFMTV news channel is broadcasting a telephone interview with a man who they identified as the supermarket gunman, named as Amedy Coulibaly. In the interview, he says he had been coordinating his attack with the Charlie Hebdo suspects and that he was from the Islamic State militant group active in Syria and Iraq.

But one of the Charlie Hebdo suspects, Cherif Kouachi, told the same channel he had been sent and financed by al-Qaeda in Yemen, another militant group which is not believed to have had overt ties with Islamic State.

Reports say an armed man is holding two hostages at a jewellery store in Montpellier, southern France, but there is no indication it is linked to the hostage situations in Paris.

Interior Minister: Forces showed 'courage'

Speaking at a press conference, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve expressed his gratitude to the police and emergency services who showed "professionalism and courage", adding that the whole French nation was relieved tonight.

He said that forces would remain mobilized in order to keep all French people protected.

Here, Bernard Cazeneuve (L) is seen leaving after a crisis meeting at the Elysee Palace.

AFP

Shopkeeper fears

One Jewish shopkeeper, who gave his name as Jerome, told the BBC that Jews in Paris are frightened after the recent attacks. He says policemen closed many shops, including his own, "because they are afraid that there may be another terrorist on the street".

World Have Your Say is live on the BBC World Service, where they will be speaking to residents in Paris and Dammartin-en-Goële. You can tweet the programme @bbc_whys and listen online here.

Anonymous vow 'cyberwar'

"Hacktivist" group Anonymous have released a video statement saying they will take revenge for the terrorist attacks by shutting down jihadist websites.

Anonymous

Getty's Dan Kitwood has filed these photographs of people watching the events in Paris at a cafe, and of the police operation outside the kosher supermarket in the city.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Hostages emerge

TV footage shows a number of hostages from the supermarket leaving the building, escorted by police and emergency personnel. A separate clip shows smoke from an explosion at the warehouse in the northern town of Dammartin-en-Goele, after police entered the building.

Prime Minister David Cameron

tweets: I've accepted President Hollande's invitation to join the Unity Rally in Paris this Sunday - celebrating the values behind #CharlieHebdo.

Dramatic images

Our gallery of images includes the moments when special forces police stormed the print works in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Charlie Hebdo suspects were killed, and the Paris supermarket (below):

AFP

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve tells BFMTV news channel he is very sad about the loss of lives, adding that he wants to thank the police forces "from the bottom of his heart". He is on his way to the site of the supermarket siege, the channel adds.

Get in touch

Hannah Sedgwick emails: "It isn't often I burst into tears upon reading the news. My thoughts are with all the bereaved families."

Casualty figures unclear

Conflicting reports remain over how many hostages were killed at the supermarket, with AP reporting four killed, including the gunman, and AFP and Reuters putting the death toll at five including gunman.

A reporter for Le Nouvel Observator, Donald Hebert, says the operation does not look over yet. He says he saw police run behind the store "clearly looking for someone... maybe accomplices".

Send us your pictures

Monika Berlot sent us this picture from her hotel room in Vincennes.

Monika Berlot

Get in touch

Martin Minecraft emails: "Without detracting from the truly tragic events that have unfolded today, the amazing work and coordination from the French police has proved a positive in the way that they have managed to deal with two simultaneous hostage situations. The death toll would be much, much higher if the the police didn't maintain such a high level of professionalism."

Four 'critically wounded'

Four people are critically wounded following the siege on the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes in Paris, says security source reported by AFP

Email us

David emails: "Some very brave French men and women put their own lives at risk today and deserve the free world's thanks."

Two police officers were reportedly injured in the operation to free the hostages at the kosher supermarket.

Get in touch

Helene Pasqualetti, Porte de Vincennes emails: I live about three minutes away from the supermarket. We aren't allowed to leave the building now. My eight-year-old son was at school nearby today and a lot of the parents with children at the school were worried. I've now picked him up but I had to show my ID to get inside the school. The children weren't allowed out at playtime. Some children at the school had an idea of what was going on and were crying at school because they knew their parents were outside.... People here are really shaken.

Hollande to address nation

President Francois Hollande is to address the nation via television statement some time before 19:00 GMT (20:00 local time) - AFP

People watch on as police and emergency personnel attend to the hostage situation.

Getty Images

It is still unclear how many hostages were held inside the Paris supermarket but multiple sources are now saying around 10 people were seen running from the building during the police operation to free them.

Le Monde reports that the hostage-taker killed in the kosher supermarket in Paris is Amedy Coulibaly, who was wanted by police over the shootings in Montrouge on Thursday.

Getty Images

BreakingBreaking News

At least four hostages killed in Paris supermarket siege, Reuters reports quoting police sources.

Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in the aftermath of the storming of the supermarket:

AP

Get in touch

Monika Berlot in Vincennes, emails: ...Police cars have just rushed back again to the scene, along with ambulances, many people, hundreds, still watching behind the do not cross line.

Edward Mareschal

a journalist at Le Figaro in Dammartin tweets: "Three helicopters arise as a result of the assault on the site" and "11 trucks of riot police leave Dammartin."

Frank Gardner

BBC security correspondent

tweets: Initial indications are France has successfully ended both hostage situations. 2 #CharlieHebdo gunmen reportedly killed, 53 hours after raid

BreakingPolice confirm Kouachi brothers killed

Lisa Louis

BBC News, Paris

Sources close to the investigation confirm to BBC Paris that the two Charlie Hebdo suspects in Dammartin, the Kouachi brothers, have been killed.

Great Synagogue evacuated

Le Monde is reporting that the Great Synagogue of Paris (La Victoire Synagogue) has been evacuated and tonight's Shabbat service there has been cancelled.

Tweet @BBC_Haveyoursay

in Vincennes has tweeted: Seeing these hostages freed gives me goose bumps (translation)

An AFP photo shows some more hostages being evacuated from the Jewish supermarket in Paris.

AFP

And CTV News tweeted a dramatic still from outside the supermarket:

Twitter

AFP reports that one police officer was injured in the assault on the siege site in Dammartin-en-Goele.

Daniel Sandford

BBC News

tweets: Seems like it is all over. 2 and a half days of chaos in Paris and surrounds. 15 civilians/police dead. 3 suspects dead.

Another agency picture shows one man holding a young boy emerging from the Paris store, surrounded by police special forces.

AFP

Get in touch

Wendi Kelly emails: "My thoughts have been with the people of France since I first heard about the attack on Charlie Hebdo. I can only hope that this is resolved soon and without much more death."

One of the first images of hostages coming out of the supermarket.

AFP

Christian Fraser

BBC News, Paris

Shortly after the explosion at the supermarket there were two ambulances that came racing past us and there were paramedics working on somebody, but we don't know who.... we know there were at least two women and children inside the supermarket.

BreakingBreaking News

The hostage-taker at the supermarket in eastern Paris is also reported dead by Le Monde newspaper.

Get in touch

Simon Nicholls emailed to support Hélène, and says: "She's absolutely right all TV coverage should be blocked including Twitter/Facebook channels when operations like this take place. The element of surprise goes out the window and allows these terrorist to act with full knowledge of the situation outside."

Brothers 'came out firing'

A source to AFP says that the Kouachi brothers "came out firing" on security forces.

Several hostages at the supermarket in Paris have been freed, according to AFP.

An assault group attacking the print works north-east of Paris, where the Kouachi brothers were holding at least one hostage until several minutes ago.

EPA

French police special forces are pictured here approaching the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes, Paris.

AFP

BreakingBreaking News

AFP is reporting that the Kouachi brothers' hostage has been freed and is safe following a police assault on the warehouse in Dammartin.

Police have been seen storming the supermarket, with one woman seen leaving, AP reports. Women and children are believed to be among the hostages held inside the building.

Christian Fraser

BBC News, Paris

We just heard five explosions coming from the direction of the supermarket... then the sirens started wailing in this part of Paris but so far we have not heard any gunfire, just five loud explosions.

BreakingBreaking News

AFP is reporting that a source says the Charlie Hebdo suspects, the Kouachi brothers, have been killed.

BreakingBreaking News

Five loud explosions have been heard at the hostage site in eastern Paris.

Get in touch

Hélène from Paris emails to say: "I'm a bit disappointed by news programmes around the world who encourage people to record all the secret moving of the security men. I really don't understand why TV programs are showing all the movements of the police. Everyone, even bad people, can see those images."

The BFMTV news channel has broadcast live footage of a helicopter from the French emergency services landing in the area. It is as yet unknown if anyone has been injured in the security operation.

AFP news agency reports an official source saying that French commandos have launched an assault on the site of the siege in Dammartin-en-Goele.

Live TV footage from the scene shows smoke rising from the building after what appears to be another small explosion. At least two figures dressed in black are seen emerging on the rooftop of the building.

Explosions and gunfire heard

The BBC's Chris Morris tells BBC World that explosions may have come from stun grenades at the printing warehouse where the Kouachi brothers are holding a hostage.

AFP

Chris Morris

BBC News, Dammartin-en-Goele

There was a sudden burst of intense gunfire lasting about a minute, several explosions as well as possibly grenades, more gunfire and now it has gone quiet again. We are a few hundred metres from the building.

Smoke has also been seen coming from the building where the Charlie Hebdo suspects are holed up, Reuters reports.

BreakingBreaking News

The BBC's Imelda Flattery reports that shooting is erupting now at the warehouse in Dammartin.

Leela Jacinto, France 24 reporter

tweets: French Interior Ministry says more than 80,000 personnel now on the ground, handling two hostage situations.

Liberation houses Charlie Hebdo staff

Surviving Charlie Hebdo staff, guarded by police, arrive at the offices of Liberation newspaper.

Getty Images

Getty Images

'Against entire free world'

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says his government is following the situation in Paris "with concern".

"The terrorist offensive taking place over the past three days," he continues, "is not only against the French people or France's Jews but against the entire free world."

French special forces are poised on the rooftop of a building near the printing house in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the two brothers suspected of the Charlie Hebdo attack are now cornered.

AP

The hostage crisis taking place simultaneously outside the city is mapped here:

BBC

This shows the site of the Paris siege as well as this week's earlier attacks in the city:

BBC

An image of the supermarket currently under siege in eastern Paris, with an unknown number of people held hostage inside by a gunman.

AFP

Gunman 'demand'

It is still as yet unclear if there is a link between the two hostage situations. However, French media is quoting police sources as saying that the hostage-taker at the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes is making demands for the release of the two suspects wanted over the Charlie Hebdo attack, who are still engaged in a tense stand-off with police in Dammartin-en-Goele.

Hollande-Merkel talks postponed

A meeting between French President Francois Hollande and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was planned for Sunday in Strasbourg, is postponed amid the hostages crisis.

Daniel Sandford

BBC News

tweets: A reliable source has confirmed to the BBC that Cherif and Said Kouachi were on the UK Warnings Index "and had been for some time."

Extremists 'insult Islam'

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, has made a statement via video link, saying that Islamic extremists have insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad more than those who have published satirical cartoons mocking the religion.

He did not make a specific reference to the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris but referred to Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, saying they had done more harm to Islam than anyone else in history.

EPA

'Burst of gunfire'

Another eyewitness, named Golda, tells the BBC she was on her way to the supermarket under attack when she heard a "burst of gunfire". She sought refuge inside a nearby garage - where she has been holed up with several others for the last hour and a half.

"We can't really see what's on going at the supermarket because we can't see down there, but we are surrounded by the police and special forces," she tells BBC World TV.

BBC teams on the ground

Follow:

Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent: @BBCLyseDoucet

Gavin Hewitt, Europe Editor: @BBCGavinHewitt

Lucy Williamson, Paris Correspondent: @LucyWilliamson

Fergal Keane, World Affairs Correspondent: @FergalKeane47

Chris Morris, Correspondent: @BBCChrisMorris

Christian Fraser, Correspondent: @ChristianFraser

Damian Grammaticas, Correspondent: @DNGBBC

Simon Wilson, Europe Bureau Editor: @Siwilso

Piers Schofield, Senior Europe Producer: @Inglesi

Natalie Morton, Senior Producer: @NatalieMortonTV

Imelda Flattery, Senior Producer: @ImeldaFlattery

Also in London with analysis:

Frank Gardner, Security Correspondent: @FrankRGardner

Gordon Corera, Security Correspondent: @GordonCorera

School lockdown

Michael Rudy, who lives across from the kosher supermarket in Porte de Vincennes, tells BBC World TV that police are evacuating nearby buildings. He says his son is at his school just 200m away, which is also in lockdown, and he has been unable to make contact with him as yet.

In one hour (13:00-14:00 GMT) there were more than 20,000 tweets about the shootings in #vincennes using that hashtag.

A tweet by the Paris Police Department was the most retweeted, over, 1,400 times: "Avoid the area of #Vincennes Thanks #AlerteAttentat (translated)"

Evacuations around supermarket

French police have been helping people to leave the area around the kosher supermarket in the eastern fringes of central Paris.

Getty Images

AP

All shops in the famed Jewish neighbourhood of the Marais in central Paris have been ordered closed by police, AP reports.

Metro traffic around the Trocadero area has resumed after access to one of its subways was temporarily stopped, Le Monde reports.

Police have closed down a ring road that circles Paris near the kosher supermarket in the French capital.

AP

Trocadero 'false alarm'

A police spokesperson tells the BBC that a possible incident reported at the Trocadero (near the Eiffel Tower in central Paris) is a false alarm.

Govt calls crisis meeting

Lisa Louis

BBC News, Paris

The government says a crisis meeting has been called at the presidential palace in Paris about the hostage-taking. The meeting will be attended by President Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, and Justice Minister Taubira.

'Impossible task'

Arnaud Danjean, a former member of France's external intelligence agency, tells the BBC's Newshour programme it is close to impossible to keep an eye on all possible terror suspects.

"Of course, [the security forces] focus on the most dangerous people, [but] they cannot follow everyone. What is the case here is that these people - probably for a few years, at least for a few months, maybe for a few years - have disappeared or just were asleep. And reactivated very recently."

Nikolai Kleist Burkal, near east Paris shooting

Post on facebook: Okay, things are getting closer now I think there's another hostage situation quite near us at Porte de Vincennes! We can hear a helicopter and sirens just outside the window...this is crazy!

BreakingBreaking News

Bruno Boelpaep

BBC News, Porte Vincennes

reports that a police officer at the scene in Paris says two people are confirmed dead after a gunman (believed to be the killer of the police officer in Montrouge yesterday) entered a kosher supermarket in the Porte de Vincennes area of eastern Paris.

Armed police have now sealed off the area around the kosher shop in Paris's Porte de Vincennes.

Getty Images

Witness appeal

French police have put out an appeal for witnesses to yesterday's shooting in Montrouge. They are looking for two people: a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene and a man called Amedy Coulibaly.

Twitter

These pictures were taken from a restaurant close to the Paris shooting scene (we are attributing the pictures in order to protect the safety of the photographer):

Mickaël LeDoux Lagarde

Mickaël LeDoux Lagarde

Lisa Louis

BBC News, Paris

French media are reporting that a police source told them the hostage-taker in Paris initiated contact with the police.

AFP: 'Two dead' in Paris

AFP is reporting that, according to a source close to the inquiry, at least two people are dead in the hostage situation in Paris. The BBC is unable to immediately confirm this.

The Yemeni intelligence source adds that Said Kouachi stayed with an al-Qaeda-linked person and later joined the group's military training camp located in a mountainous area.

One of the two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo shootings, Said Kouachi, travelled to Yemen illegally via sea in 2011, a Yemeni intelligence source tells Abdullah Ghorab, a BBC Arabic correspondent in Yemen.

The attacker of the kosher shop in Paris was seen carrying two machine guns, reports in the French media say.

Tweet us @BBC_HaveYourSay

who we are not naming for safety reasons, tweeted this picture from scene of suspected shooting in eastern Paris:

@Fiaxhs

A lockdown is now in place in schools close to the reported shooting at the Jewish shop, according to the AFP news agency.

Reports suggest that several hostages, including women and children, may have been taken in a Jewish shop in eastern Paris.

Heavily-armed police units have been seen moving towards to the scene of the reported shooting in Paris.

Other

The BBC's Imelda Flattery tweets: Police in Dammartin say they will hold a press conference in the town "after the event is resolved".

French media say a hostage has been taken at the Jewish shop at Porte de Vincennes in Paris. There are suggestions that the gunman may be the one who shot dead a policewoman on Thursday. Police are now evacuating the area.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet tweets: Police surrounding 2 suspects moving "cautiously & slowly" since men "highly dangerous & armed" says Int Min spokesman BBC #charliehebdo

Reports are now coming in of a shooting in a Jewish shop in south-eastern Paris.

'Dialogue is priority'

French anti-terrorist forces surrounding the printing complex want to "establish a dialogue" with the suspects and have not launched an assault, French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet is quoted by Reuters.

"This can take a long time, hours and sometimes days," he adds.

Chris O'Brien, Journalist, Venture Beat

tweets: Convoy of busses headed in. Several ambulances with lights and sirens just came out. #JeSuisCharlie #CharlieHebdo.

Chris O'Brien

Journal du Dimanche's Juliette Demey tweets: Twelve school buses arrive at #Dammartin to evacuate students in the city under police escort, according to the district commissioner #JDD

French special forces have established a security perimeter around the printing complex in Dammartin-en-Goele. Here, they are seen positioned on a house roof.

Reuters

Get involved

Daniel Sharpe emailed to say: "My heart goes out to the victims and police of France today. They are doing a fantastic job in protecting the French public. Je Suis Charlie."

tweets this picture from Dammartin-en-Goele:

‏@Dys_Camerenois

A French Interior Ministry spokesman says there have been no deaths in shootings on Friday. Earlier media reports suggesting one person had been killed were wrong, he adds.

Tweet @BBC_HaveYourSay

Alec Glen tweets: I can't imagine them being captured alive but we need to learn from these people to understand how to avoid future problems.

Get involved

Frederick has emailed to say: "Let police use tear gas to force these bandits out!! Negotiations should not be a priority. One or two more lives maybe lost but these bandits must be stopped. Otherwise this might go on for hours."

Le Figaro newspaper says that primary and nursery-aged children are being confined in a Dammartin school. Carpets have been placed over the windows and police are guarding the entrance.

Anais Ginori, Journalist, La Repubblica

tweets: The high school boys of #Dammartin affaciati. 'Soon we will be evacuated'. We are 1 km from the siege. (translated)

Anais Ginori

These are the photos released earlier in the week by police of the suspects, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi. You can find more about them in this BBC piece.

AFP

Piers Scholfield, BBC Paris

tweets: Dammartin town hall confirms to BBC one hostage has been taken at CTD (printing complex)

'Shut inside'

Dammartin resident Sarah Delaunay tells the BBC: "We're shut inside. We cant' go out, we're about 500m away (from the printing compound). The town streets are deserted."

Audrey Taupenas, spokeswoman for the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, has told the Associated Press that officials have established phone contact with the suspects in order to negotiate the safe evacuation of a nearby school. She said the suspects had agreed.

Chris Morris

BBC News, Dammartin-en-Goele

reports that the situation is "pretty calm" now in the town, and police have established "a secure perimeter" around the building where the suspects are believed to be hiding. "I can see the roof of the building," our correspondent adds.

Tweet @BBC_HaveYourSay

Norman Jones tweets: Martyrs die for faith; if gunmen are killed it will because they are barbaric, inhuman thugs, not because of their faith.

Officials from the town council say pupils from three schools are being evacuated from their buildings in Dammartin-en-Goele.

The children are to be reunited with their parents at a nearby gymnasium.

The massive security operation continuing in Dammartin-en-Goele is on the third day of the manhunt for the Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects. Here are a couple of images from the scene.

AP

AFP

Brian Ging, Journalist, Al-Jazeera

tweets: We're now in convoy with police on way to a press conference in dammartin.

Brian Ging

There have been unconfirmed media reports that the hostage involved in the siege is a woman.

French police say there is a "connection" between a suspect identified in a fatal policewoman shooting south of Paris on Thursday and the two brothers suspected of attacking Charlie Hebdo magazine, according to the AFP news agency.

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