PARIS – A gunman, believed to be an operative of Islamic State (IS) group fired shots and took hostages at a supermarket in southwestern France on Friday, with reports of at least two casualties.
Security forces are responding to two separate incidents, one at a supermarket in the town of Trebes and the second in the town of Carcassonne where a policeman was shot.
The standoff, that has not ended yet, began soon after 11 am in Trèbes, in the Aube department where a man, in his thirties took over one dozen people in hostage.
According to BFM TV, the hostage-taker, believed to be of Moroccan descent, has asked for the release of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who is the prime surviving suspect in the attacks that killed 130 people.
The local prosecutor’s office said that the gunman claimed allegiance to IS whereas Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the information available suggested it “seems to be a terrorist act.”
More details to follow…
