French police kill suspects in Paris newspaper murders

PARIS (AP) — French police stormed a printing plant north of Paris on Friday, freeing a hostage and killing two brothers linked to al-Qaida who were suspected of slaying 12 people at a Paris newspaper two days ago.

Two groups of terrorists had seized hostages at separate locations around the French capital Friday, facing off against thousands of French security forces as the city shut down a famed Jewish neighborhood and scrambled to protect residents and tourists from further attacks.

By Friday afternoon, explosions and gunshots rang out and white smoke rose outside a printing plant in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where brothers Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Said Kouachi, 34, had holed up with a hostage.

Security forces had surrounded the building for most of the day. After the explosions, a police SWAT forces could be seen on the roof of the building and one police helicopter landed near it.

Audrey Taupenas, spokeswoman for the town near the Charles de Gaulle airport, said the brothers had died in the clash.

France has been high alert since the country's worst terror attack in decades — the massacre Wednesday in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.