French police have stormed two hostage sites in the Paris area, killing three hostage takers.
Two brothers suspected of the Charlie Hebdo magazine
shootings were killed in an assault at a warehouse where they had held a
hostage north of Paris.In the second incident, anti-terror forces stormed a supermarket in eastern Paris where several hostages were being held by another gunman.
Four hostages there were killed prior to the police assault, reports say.
Another four hostages were seriously injured, but 15 were freed alive, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris reports.
The hostage taker at the supermarket is believed to have had links to the two Charlie Hebdo suspects.
After the police operation started, several hostages could be seen leaving the Hypercacher supermarket.
Two police officers were injured in the rescue operation, AP reported.
In the first incident, a hostage at the warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris was also freed, while a police officer at the scene was injured, AFP news agency said.
French President Francois Hollande has described the events as "a tragedy for the nation".
Christian Fraser said there were explosions at the supermarket, then hostages emerged
Twelve people were shot dead and 11 were injured in Wednesday's attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine.
The unprecedented attack shocked France and there has been an outpouring of sympathy and solidarity worldwide.
The two suspects of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, then went on the run for two days, before being surrounded at Dammartin as night fell on Friday.
French police said they came out firing.
Explosions and gunfire are heard coming from the warehouse, as Chris Morris reports
He knew at least one of the suspected Charlie Hebdo attackers, a source told AFP news agency.
He had threatened to kill his captives if police attempted to capture the brothers, reports citing police said.
He was also suspected of being behind the shooting of a policewoman in the southern suburb of Montrouge on Thursday.
On Friday, French police issued an appeal for witnesses to that shooting. They said they were looking for Amedy Coulibaly, as well as a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, 26.
Hayat Boumeddiene's whereabouts are not clear.
Police say they are looking for two people in connection with the shooting of a policewoman on Thursday
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