At least two killed in France supermarket shooting, hostage-taking

APD NEWS

text

At least two people were killed after a gunman fired shots and took eight hostages at a supermarket in Trebes, southern France on Friday, according to French Interior Ministry.

The ministry also said three people were injured, one seriously, in the incident.

An unconfirmed report from BFM TV said police launched a raid and the attacker was shot dead.

The incident happened in Trebes, a commune in the Aude department, when the man "entered the Super U supermarket at around 11:15 am and shots were heard," AFP reported, citing an anonymous security source.

Police are seen at the scene of a hostage situation in a supermarket in Trebes, Aude, France, March 23, 2018.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has described the hostage-taking situation at Super U supermarket "very serious" and "seems to be a terrorist act." All other hostages have been freed, he added.

The gunman claimed allegiance to ISIL, said a prosecutor.

It is reported that he has asked for the release of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the ten men responsible for the 2015 terror attacks across Paris, including at the Bataclan nightclub, that killed 130, according to BFM TV.

Another incident was reported at a 15-minute drive away from town, Carcassonne, where a policeman was shot.

It is unclear if the two incidents are linked at the moment.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the incident was believed to be a terrorist attack and "a threat to all of our security."

Major terror attacks in France

  • 1 Oct 2017 - Two women stabbed to death at Marseille railway station; attack claimed by IS

  • 26 Jul 2016 - Two attackers slit a priest's throat at his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy. They are shot dead by police

  • 14 Jul 2016 - A huge lorry mows down a crowd of people on the Nice beachfront during Bastille Day celebrations, killing 86. IS claims the attack - by a Tunisian-born driver, later shot dead by police

  • 13 Jun 2016 - A police officer and his partner are stabbed to death at home by a jihadist, in Magnanville, west of Paris. He declares allegiance to IS, and police later kill him

  • 13 Nov 2015 - IS jihadists armed with bombs and assault rifles attack Paris, targeting the national stadium, cafes and Bataclan concert hall. The co-ordinated assault leaves 130 people dead, and more than 350 wounded

  • 7-9 Jan 2015 - Two Islamist gunmen storm the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 17 people. Another Islamist militant kills a policewoman the next day and takes hostages at a Jewish supermarket in Paris. Four hostages are killed before police shoot the gunman dead. The other two gunmen are cornered and killed by police in a siege.

(CGTN)