Paris gunmen take woman hostage, say they ‘want to die as martyrs’

Helicopters, with marksmen on-board, hovered over an industrial building Friday near Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, as police closed in on two heavily armed men suspected in the deadly attack on a satirical newspaper’s office on Wednesday. The men, brothers Cherif and Said Kouchi, apparently have taken a woman hostage. A French official denied reports that at least one person was killed during a shootout. Earlier today, the suspects led a car chase as the suspects headed towards Paris, in which shots were fired. Authorities also evacuated a nearby school around midday Friday after the suspects agreed by phone to allow the children safe passage. By phone, the gunmen also reportedly said they were not afraid to die.

They said they want to die as martyrs.

Yves Albarello, a local lawmaker who said he was inside the command post

The men, along with a third who turned himself over to authorities earlier in the week, are the suspects thought to have carried out the attack, the worst in France for half a century, in revenge for the weekly newspaper’s repeated publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that 88,000 security forces had been mobilized and that an international meeting on terrorism would take place in Paris on Sunday.

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