- .Heroic customer at kosher supermarket in Paris snatched one of terrorist Amedy Coulibaly's guns during the siege
- .Hostage turned the gun on the extremist - only to find it had been left on a counter because it was jammed
- .Dramatic account revealed by a survivor reveals that Coulibaly then shot and killed the customer in cold blood
- .Survivor - known only as Mickael B, was trapped inside the Jewish supermarket with his three-year-old son
- .Hostage taker Amedy Coulibaly, 32, was responsible for shooting dead a policewoman on Thursday
- .In the hours after the raid, police stand guard at the store where bodies of the victims are seen lying on the floor
- .An Israeli government official said 15 hostages were rescued while French president confirmed four people killed
- .Series of explosions rocked the building as armed police launched their raid in the suburb Porte de Vincennes
- .It comes two days after Cherif and Said Kouachi massacred 12 people at Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris
- .Prosecutor reveals 500 phone calls made between the wife of Coulibaly and one of the Kouachi brothers
- .Police are interrogating the wives of the Kouachis in a bid to track down Coulibaly's wife Hayat Boumeddiene
- .WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A heroic customer at the kosher supermarket in Paris snatched one of the terrorist's guns and turned it on the hostage taker - only to find it was jammed, leaving the extremist to execute him in cold blood.
The dramatic account was revealed by a survivor who fled the shoot-out as armed police officers and soldiers raided the store yesterday.
Mickael B, as he wishes to be known, was held in the store with his three-year-old son when the fellow hostage suddenly grabbed the weapon which had been left on the counter and tried to fire it at terrorist Amedy Coulibaly.
But, after discovering the gun had been left there because it was malfunctioning, the extremist shot and killed the brave hostage.
This is the moment a man sprinted towards armed police as an officer aimed a hand gun at him amid a blaze of gunfire at the kosher supermarket
Commandos launched flash grenades into the grocery and fired into the store before hostage taker Amedy Coulibaly was gunned down
Giving a terrifying account, Mickael said: ‘I was heading for the check-out with the goods in my hand when I heard a bang – very loud. I thought it was a firecracker at first. But turning I saw a black man armed with two Kalashnikov rifles and I knew what was happening.’
‘I grabbed my son by the collar and fled to the back of the store. There, with other customers, we ran down a spiral staircase into the basement. We all piled into one of two cold rooms – our door wouldn’t close. We were terrified.
‘Five minutes later a store employee was sent down by the killer. She said he said we were to go back up otherwise there’d be carnage. I refused to go up.
‘By now my son, understanding nothing, was panicking. Then minutes later the employee comes back down with the same message. This time I decided to follow her up the spiral staircase.
‘At the top a man was dying in a pool of his own blood. The terrorist introduced himself to us. He was strangely calm. "I am Amedi Coulibaly, Malian and Muslim. I belong to the Islamic State," he told us.'
‘Then he told us to put our phones on the ground. He walked around the store, armed, totally justifying himself, speaking of Palestine, French prisons, his brothers in Syria and many other things.
‘Suddenly one of the customers tried to grab one of his guns which he’d left on the counter. It wasn’t working. The terrorist had put it there because it had blocked after the first shots,' Mickael told Le Point.
‘He turned and shot at the customer who died on the spot.'
Moments after police had stormed the grocery, terrified captives ran from the supermarket flanked by French commandos
Images have emerged of Amedy Coulibaly's bloodied body lying on a pavement surroudnded by forenzic officers after the siege had come to a dramatic end
Tributes: Flowers were this morning left tied to police fences erected outside the kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
Mickael added: 'He then demanded that I call the media, which I did. From then on the phone in the store never stopped ringing. It was mainly journalists. I told them now was not the time. My son started to cry he wanted to go home. He said the terrorist was a bad man.
‘I managed to get my phone out discreetly and got in touch with the police outside while the terrorist was roaming the aisles.
‘A policeman told me that we should be ready to throw ourselves flat on the ground when the assault came, which would be soon.
‘It was obvious that the terrorist was preparing to die. He said it was his reward. He had a weapon in each hand and boxes of cartridges nearby. He suddenly began to pray.
‘My mobile was still on. The police had heard it all. Minutes later the shop grille was lifted. We knew it was the start of the assault.
‘We flung ourselves to the ground. The noise was deafening. He was dead. It was over.’
Meanwhile dramatic footage has emerged of the moment police stormed in to the Paris kosher supermarket last night before terrorist Amedy Coulibaly was shot dead.
Commandos launched flash grenades into the grocery and fired into the shop before a man believed to be the hostage taker was gunned down. Moments later, terrified captives could be seen running to safety.
It comes as it was revealed that the Isis fanatic had slaughtered four hostages before officers launched the raid.
Last night, chilling images emerged of bodies lying on the floor of the bullet-ridden shop after several shoppers were taken hostage inside the grocery store - including women and children. Further images emerged of Coulibaly's bloodied body lying on a pavement after the siege had come to a dramatic end.
It has also been revealed there were 500 calls made between the phone belonging to Coulibaly's wife Hayat Boumeddiene - who is now on the run from police following the hostage siege - and a phone belonging to one of the wives of the Kouachi brothers.
It is unclear at this stage exactly who made the calls, but police are now interrogating the wives of the Kouachi brothers in a bid to track down armed and dangerous Boumeddiene.
Questions were asked today of how the Charlie Hebdo shooters had been able to carry out the attacks. Both the Kouachi brothers are understood to have been on British and American terror watch lists.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: 'There was a failing, of course. That's why we have to analyse what happened.'
A distraught woman takes a moment to lay a bouquet of flowers outside the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes, less than 24 hours after commandos raided it to rescue hostages
A victim of the siege in eastern Paris on Thursday is seen lying on the floor near the entrance to the supermarket after four hostages were killed
Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed in the raid, threatened to kill his hostages if police attempted to storm the Charlie Hebdo terrorists who, at the time, were engaged in a similar standoff with police.
In the hours after the dramatic raid on the store, an Israeli government official said 15 hostages were rescued while French president Francois Hollande confirmed that four people were killed.
Coulibaly was also responsible for the fatal shooting of a policewoman on Thursday. It has now been suggested this attack may have been an aborted attempt to attack a Jewish school.
Police officers look for clues while a body, partially seen to the right, lies inside the kosher market after the siege came to an end yesteday
Forensics are examining the interior of the supermarket amid reports four captives were killed in the stand-off between police and the gunman
French police named the hostage taker as Amedy Coulibaly (right). Police also named Hayat Boumeddiene (left) as helping him. However, it is no longer clear whether she was involved
An armed police officer with a dog stands guard close to the entrance where a man's body lies on the floor after a raid on the kosher shop
A woman runs from the Paris kosher grocery store in tears as she is led away by French police after officers stormed the building yesterday
A man clutches a small boy close as they flee the Hyper Cacher store where they were held hostage yesterday (left) as a woman runs from the building in tears (right)
Prosecutor Francois Molins also said that several people have been handed preliminary charges in the investigation following the three-day rampage that has terrified France. They include family members of the three suspects, who were killed by police Friday.
He added that one of the two gunmen in the other standoff Friday was wounded in the throat in a shootout with police before being killed later in the day.
One woman who visited the Kosher shop described its manager Michel Emsalem as a 'kind' and 'patient' man.
Latifa Benjamaa, 37, said: 'He is kind, nice and polite. He is not someone who cares about religion. I often went to shop there and I'm a Muslim,' she said.
While it remained unclear whether the manager was involved in the incident, she added: 'This has nothing to do with religion. You are not allowed to kill in my religion. These men had an objective. These people are not doing this for Allah.'
Mrs Benjamaa said she feared people would begin rioting in the street.
She said: 'Now they are going to be repercussions. There will be war on the streets. Everyone is going to fear everyone. Before, things were fine.'
Police crowd one of the entrances to the supermarket before a burst of flames explodes, while officers hold up their riot shields as protection
Running for the lives, the hostages holed up in the grocery store for most of yesterday included young families, women and children
A mother can only express her relief as she clutches her young son as a partner puts up his thumb to signal that the young family are okay
One of the injured hostages is carried from the supermarket on a stretcher as medics quickly attempt to treat them for their injuries
Paramedics are on the scene to treat injured hostages following the raid where it is believed at least four hostages have been killed
Police officers protect themselves with riot shields as a fiery blast explodes at the entrance to the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes
It is reported that at least one of the police officers was injured in the blast and six explosions were heard at the Jewish supermarket yesterday
Armed police swarm the entrances and exits to the Hyper Cache in eastern Paris after several shoppers were held hostage for several hours
Officers stormed the supermarket minutes after two brothers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre were killed at a second siege on the outskirts of Paris
A man carrying a small child is seen fleeing from the ordeal moments after police stormed the kosher grocery store in eastern Paris
The hostages, pictured as they escape the building, were just two of many who were seen to have survived the ordeal
The man is pictured in another shot carrying the small child in his arms, while the kosher grocery behind him remains illuminated
Members of the French special forces escort a number of hostages from inside the store moments after a series of explosions were heard
Hostages are pictured piling out of the building after terrorist Coulibaly was left dead in the dramatic confrontation
Pictured is a person being taken away from the scene on a stretcher after four hostages were killed in the incident
The streets surrounding the siege are filled with ambulances and police cars in the minutes following the dramatic raid
Flash bangs and explosions explode inside the building, which is pictured moments before police (bottom right) charged inside
Earlier yesterday, as news of the hostage situation broke, police ordered all shops in Paris' famed Jewish district to be immediately closed.
The mayor's office in Paris announced the closures of shops along the Rosiers street in Paris' Marais neighbourhood, in the heart of the tourist district and about a kilometre away from the offices of newspaper Charlie Hebdo where 12 people were killed on Wednesday.
A 20-year-old student was among the hostages taken at the kosher shop in Paris. The young woman, whose name remains unknown, called her uncle who works nearby from the basement of the building where she was being held.
Earlier reports that there was a serious incident developing near the Trocadero in central Paris were incorrect - it remains open and running after what was a false alarm.
The siege at the grocery store occurred after the Charlie Hebdo killers in Dammartin-en-Goele found themselves holed up with a hostage at a business premises further north - and were believed to have made contact with an associate.
Police immediately scrambled phone signals in the area – but not before the killers were able to make their call.
It was feared that Said Kouachi and his brother Cherif contacted Amedy Coulibaly – and possibly ordered him to take hostages in a bid to force police to allow them to escape.
Strong links between the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly continue to emerge - including the phone calls between one of the Kouachi's wife and Coulibaly's wife Hayat Boumeddiene, revealed by Mr Molins on Friday.
Police were today interrogating the wives of the Kouachi brothers in a bid to track down Hayat Boumeddiene - who is now France's most wanted woman.
Boumeddiene, described as armed and dangerous, has been on the run since the slaying of rookie policewoman, Clarissa Jean-Phillipe, by Coulibaly.
Hundreds of phone calls between Boumeddiene and Izzana Hamyd, wife of Cherif Kouachi, have shown up on mobile records. Five hundred in all were made last year.
Also being held is the wife or girlfriend of the older Kouachi brother, Said.
French Algerian Boumeddiene is now not thought to have been with Coulibaly at any time in the Kosher Supermarket and to have fled immediately after the killing.
Radicalised: Hayat Boumeddiene (left) pictured with her husband Amedy Coulibaly (right) who is one of the three terrorists who brought France to a halt in 48 hours of bloodshed
Police officers stop two people on a scooter at gunpoint as they arrived near the scene of the hostage taking yesterday
The pair are aggressively wrestled to the ground by police officers who were tasked with preventing anyone coming and going from the scene
A building is evacuated by members of the French special forces teams after at least six people were taken hostage by the gunman
A police officer is dressed in body armour as the hostage-taker was believed to be armed with assault rifles
A police officer takes aim upwards as he mans his position at the siege in eastern Paris
Police officers take aim as they huddle behind a car after there were reports the gunman was armed with heavy weapons
Police forces were stretched as they dealt with two hostage situations across Paris simultaneously
Rows of police vans sit parked at the side of the road while a solitary officer stands guard at the outskirts of the cordon
Cherif and Coulibaly were both part of the Buttes Chaumont gang - a group of extremists who came together in the early 2000s - and were both implicated in a plot to free jailed Islamist Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem in 2010.
As the two sieges by suspected Islamic terrorists yesterday played out at the same time, fears grew that the jihadis were looking to cause another bloodbath.
Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27, was unarmed and directing traffic in Montrouge, in south Paris, when she was gunned down by Coulibay on Thursday.
French police wearing body armour and carrying rifles stand guard at the cordoned off scene
Reports first claimed Coulibaly took at least six people hostage in the kosher grocery store but it was nearer to 20 by the time police stormed it
A hooded police officer armed with an assault rifle crosses a section of the ring road that circles Paris, near the hostage situation
A police officer instructs residents of the Paris suburb after the area ground to a standstill when shooting broke out
A special forces team member lead residents out of the area (left) while two others patrol the cordon (right)
Solidarity: Lights project 'Paris est Charlie' (Paris is Charlie) on to the Arc de Triomphe in a sign a defiance against the terrorists
Two of Coulibaly's relatives were arrested in nearby Grigny during a police raid this morning.
Like the Kouachi brothers, he is known to have been radicalised by an Islamic preacher in Paris, before expressing a wish to fight in Iraq or Syria. Both Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother, Cherif Kouachi, 33, were first arrested in 2005.
They were suspected members of the Buttes Chaumont – a group operating out of the 19th arrondissement of Paris and sending terrorist fighters to Iraq.
Cherif was convicted in 2008 to three years in prison, with 18 months suspended, for his association with the underground organisation.
He had wanted to fly to Iraq via Syria, and was found with a manual for a Kalashnikov – the automatic weapon used in Wednesday’s attack.
WHO ARE GIGN? THE ELITE FRENCH UNIT BROUGHT IN TO END THE TWO HOSTAGE DRAMAS
An elite French unit was brought in to bring an end to the two dramatic sieges yesterday.
The GIGN – Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale – is specially trained in counter-terrorism operations.
It was formed specifically to deal with highly-organised and heavily armed groups – and to respond to hostage situations.
The unit was formed in 1973 – a year after the Munich massacre during the Olympic Games. A study was launched in France into possible solutions to sudden and violent attacks.
Initially it consisted of just 15 members – but it gradually increased to 87 by 2000.
The GIGN – Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale – is specially trained in counter-terrorism operations
In 2007, it underwent a major reshuffle to form a new 380-member unit with the aim of being able to launch large-scale interventions and respond to mass hostage-taking situations.
Since it was formed, the group has launched more than a thousand operations and freed more than 500 hostages.
Among its best known interventions was the 1994 liberation of 229 passengers and crew from an Air France flight which had been hijacked by four terrorists.
As part of a vigorous training scheme, members are taught shooting, long-range marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat.
As well as weapons handling, they are put through their paces in airborne skills such as paragliding as well as swimming, diving and launching assaults on ships.
But their skills must also include undercover surveillance, bomb disposal and diplomacy techniques for siege situations.
They are taught to survive in some of the toughest conditions on the planet, including desert environments and in sub-zero terrain.
Dozens of police officers (pictured) surrounded the kosher bakery, where a gunman took many people hostage in a raid that ended in the deaths of four innocent people
Police cordons (pictured) were established to surround the kosher bakery, where women and children were among those held captive
Three officers mobilise in the Port de Vincennes area after what is France's second hostage situation to break out in the same day
A large shield and a pole used for breaking down doors are wheeled to the scene
Said was freed after questioning by police, but – like his brother – was known to have been radicalised after the Iraq War of 2003, when Anglo-American forces deposed Saddam Hussein.
Both brothers were said to be infuriated by the killing of Muslims by western soldiers and war planes.
Vincent Olliviers, Cherif’s lawyer at the time, described him as initially being an ‘apprentice loser - a delivery boy in a cap who smoked hashish and delivered pizzas to buy his drugs.
But Mr Ollivier said the ‘clueless kid who did not know what to do with his life met people who gave him the feeling of being important.’
After his short prison sentence, Cherif was in 2010 linked with a plot to free Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, the mastermind of the1995 bombing of the St Michel metro station in Paris that killed eight people and wounded more than 100 more.
Belkacem was a leading members of the GIA, or Armed Islamic Army – an Algerian terror outfit responsible for numerous atrocities.
The Kouachi brothers, who are orphans, were radicalised by an Iman operating in northern Paris.
They were raised in foster care in Rennes, in western France, with Cherif training as a fitness instructor before moving to Paris.
They lived in the 19th arrondissement and were radicalised by Farid Benyettou, a janitor-turned-preacher who gave sermons calling for jihad in Iraq and suicide bombings.
His Buttes-Chaumont recruitment group, named after a Paris park, sent at least a dozen young men to fight in Iraq.
The Kouachis share similar backgrounds to Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old French Algerian responsible for murdering seven people, including four Jews and three Muslim soldiers, in the Toulouse area in 2012.
Merah, who was himself shot dead by police, had also been left to operate as a terrorist in France, despite the authorities knowing he had trained with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Last year Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French Algerian, was arrested in Marseille in connection with an attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels which left four people dead. He denies any crimes, and is currently on remand in Belgium.
Pictured: French media identified this woman as Clarissa Jean-Philippe, the young policewoman who was gunned down as she attended a routine traffic accident in Montrouge at 8am on Thursday. Coulibaly is thought to be responsible for her death
Police are currently engaged in a standoff with brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi further north. The two are alleged to have carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre in northern France
FACES OF THE 12 VICTIMS OF THE CHARLIE HEBDO MASSACRE REVEALED
French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Charb, Tignous and Honore (Philippe Honore)
The names of the 12 people killed in cold by blood by three gunmen during a horrifying attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices on Wednesday morning have been revealed.
The dead include eight editorial staff, one worker, one visitor, one policeman, who was on the cartoonists' security detail, and one policeman who was shot dead on the street.
Heroic Muslim police officer Ahmed Merabet, who was executed by a terrorist gunman on the streets of Paris while he begged for his life.
Shocking footage of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office shows Mr Merabet on the ground and begging for mercy as he is killed casually by a gunshot to the head. Witnesses say he asked 'do you want to kill me?' before the gunman replied 'OK, chief'.
It is understood that Mr Merabet was a married Parisian cycle cop assigned to the 11th arrondissement – the Paris neighbourhood where Charlie Hebdo’s office is located and known for its dining and fine wines.
As the French magazine vowed to publish next week in defiance of the massacre, one French mourner wrote: 'Ahmed Merabet died protecting the innocent from hate. I salute him.'
The second police officer to be killed in the attack was Franck Brinsolaro, 49, a brigadier and protection officer for the magazine's editor Stephane Charbonnier.
The married 49-year-old lived in Bernay, France, and was the father of two children. His wife, Ingrid Brinsolaro, is editor of the Awakening Normand, Bernay, a newspaper that belongs to the group Publihebdos, as Hebdo de Sevre et Maine.
The team at Publihebdos have released a statement regarding the killing.
It read: 'Publihebdos teams are in shock after the cowardly attack and great seriousness that hit Charlie Hebdo.
'This barbaric attack left many victims including a downed police was the husband of Ingrid Brinsolaro, our editor at Bernay. We are devastated and very sad.'
Mr Charbonnier, the defiant editor whose satirical newspaper dared to poke fun at everything from religion to feminism and spoke out fiercely against political correctness, was another of the 12 victims.
Just two years ago, the 47-year-old - nicknamed Charb - declared: ‘I am not afraid of retaliation. I have no children, no wife, no car, no credit,’ he said after receiving death threats two years ago. ‘It perhaps sounds a bit pompous, but I’d rather die standing than live on my knees.’
Mr Charbonnier, who took over as editor in 2009, grew up in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northern France and joined Charlie Hebdo in the early 1990s as a designer.
The magazine's cartoonists were also targeted by the gunmen in the attack.
Jean ‘Cabu’ Cabut, the magazine’s 76-year-old lead cartoonist was an almost legendary cultural figure in France.
Known by the nickname ‘Cabu’, he was renowned for his quick wit and youthful style. He was also notorious for his drawing of Mohammed, which sparked fury after adorning the cover of Charlie Hebdo in 2006.
Despite all the controversy, Mr Cabut was insistent that art should not be constrained. Perhaps his most famous quote was: ‘Sometimes laughter can hurt – but laughter, humour and mockery are our only weapons.’
Georges Wolinski, an 80-year-old who was as renowned for his colourful home life as he was for being a ‘master of satirical illustration’.
Married twice, he once joked about his dying wish, saying: ‘I want to be cremated. I said to my wife, “if you throw the ashes in the toilet, I get to see your bottom every day”.’
Six of the Charlie Hebdo journalists and staff members killed in Wednesday's attack are pictured together in this photo, taken in 2000. Circled top from left is Philippe Honore, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Maris and Jean Cabut. Below them on the stairs, from left, is editor Stephane Charbonnier and cartoonist Bernard ‘Tignous’ Verlhac
Mr Wolinski was born in Tunis on June 28, 1934 to a Franco-Italian mother and a Polish Jewish father. He joined Hara-Kiri with Cabu in 1960 and became renowned for his cartoons, which spoofed politics and sexuality.
Bernard ‘Tignous’ Verlhac, was a renowned pacifist. The 57-year-old Parisian had been drawing for the French press since 1980 and originally made his name on comic publication L’idiot international.
Mourners were also last night paying tribute to Philippe Honore, a regular contributor to Charlie Hebdo who specialised in ‘literary puzzles’. The 73-year-old was born in Vichy, central France, and was first published aged just 16.
Victim Bernard Maris was a Left-wing economist, known to readers as ‘Uncle Bernard’. Heartbroken friends said the 68-year-old was a ‘cultured, kind and very tolerant man’.
Mourners were also last night paying tribute to Philippe Honore, a regular contributor to Charlie Hebdo who specialised in ‘literary puzzles’. The 73-year-old was born in Vichy, central France, and was first published aged just 16.
Victim Bernard Maris was a Left-wing economist, known to readers as ‘Uncle Bernard’. Heartbroken friends said the 68-year-old was a ‘cultured, kind and very tolerant man’.
Also killed was Michel Renaud, who did not work for Charlie Hebdo, but had been invited to the magazine’s offices as guest editor. He was the founder of ‘Rendez-vous de Carnet de Voyage’, a travel-themed art festival.
It has been reported that the final two victims are Frédéric Boisseau, a maintenance worker, and Elsa Cayat.
Ms Cayat, the only female victim of the gunmen, was a columnist and analyst for the magazine, according to Le Figaro.
Post mortems will be held on Thursday, according to reports citing the prosecutor of Paris, François Molins.
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