Fate of suspected organiser of Friday’s attack remains unknown

The identities of most of the eight people detained by police are also unclear.

Earlier, the prosecutor said the raid was launched after information from tapped telephone conversations, surveillance and witness accounts suggested Abaaoud might be in a safe house in the Saint-Denis suburb.

A “commando” of people arrested or killed in a massive police raid in a Paris apartment were a terror unit capable of staging a fresh attack, the city prosecutor says. Sources say the suspected Islamist militants were planning a fresh attack on the city’s La Defense (La-day-fontz) business district for the following day, including a shopping center and the main square of the district.

She said she could hear gunfire on and off for over an hour, followed by “one really huge boom”.

The target of the operation was Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, as well as another suspect believed to be the ninth attacker in Friday’s strike.

Two people died, one of whom was a woman who blew herself up, but officials have not yet been able to identify the bodies due to their condition, Mr Molins said.

He added: “I’m not in a position to give a precise and definitive number for the people who died, nor their identities, but there are at least two dead people”.

The site of Wednesday’s raid is not far from the Stade de France soccer stadium; three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the stadium during an worldwide soccer game as part of the attacks last Friday that left 129 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Molins said the building was extensively damaged by explosions and was threatening to collapse, so clearing the area has been hard.

A police official told the Associated Press that there have been exchanges of gunfire and special SWAT teams are on the scene.

Within hours, #JeSuisChien – inspired by the popular slogan “Je Suis Charlie”, used worldwide in solidarity after the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this year – had gone viral.

Many shared messages praising Diesel’s bravery and loyalty, while a few users posted pictures of their own dogs in solidarity.

Authorities said they will rely on DNA analysis to determine whether Abaaoud was killed in Wednesday’s raids.

France and Russia have vowed merciless retaliation for the Paris attacks and last month’s bombing of a Russian airliner, also claimed by the Islamic State group, which have galvanised global resolve to destroy the jihadists and end Syria’s more than four-year civil war.

He called for an worldwide coalition to destroy the group, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq.

In the past several days following last Fridays attacks, France has declared a state of emergency, with President Franois Hollande declaring war against ISIS and its terrorism, and escalating raids against suspected terrorists.

“No anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim act can be tolerated”, he said.

“We tried to stop our children hearing the noise”, said Farah Appane, who lives about 80 yards from where the raid took place.

In its English-language magazine, Islamic State said it will continue its violence and “retaliate with fire and bloodshed” for insults against the Prophet Muhammad and “the multitudes killed and injured in crusader airstrikes”.