French police surrounded a house Wednesday, March 21, where a man suspected of a series of deadly shootings was holed up, claiming he had carried out the attacks to avenge Palestinian children.
According to AFP, two officers were wounded as shots rang out in the ongoing operation to arrest the suspect, thought to be a French national of North African origin who declared that he was a member of the Al-Qaeda network, officials said.
Armed officers investigating three recent attacks in which a scooter-riding serial killer gunned down seven people in cold blood, including three Jewish children, sealed off an address in the Cote Pavee residential district of the southern city of Toulouse.
Shots rang out periodically, an AFP reporter at the scene said. The area was cordoned off by police, including members of the RAID special weapons squad. Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the siege was continuing.
Gueant said the 24-year-old suspect had spoken to officers through his door, and had declared himself to be a "mujaheedeen" or Islamic warrior fighting to avenge Palestinian children killed in the conflict with Israel.
The victims of the attacks were three soldiers, three Jewish children and a rabbi and the police raid came on the day that they were to be buried.
The minister confirmed two officers had been lightly wounded in the raid, during which the suspect had shot through a door.
"The suspect's mother was brought to the scene. She was asked to make contact with her son, to reason with him, but she did not want to, saying she had little influence on him," Gueant said.
"This person has made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past … and says he belongs to Al-Qaeda and says he wanted to avenge Palestinian children and to attack the French army," he added.
"He has links with people involved in jihadism and salafism," he added, referring to two strains of Muslim thought that have influenced Al-Qaeda.
Gueant said the suspect's brother had been detained while checks were carried out, although he confirmed that only one suspect had been at the scenes of the three shooting attacks carried out since March 11.
