Hero police dog walks to her death: Heartbreaking photo shows Diesel just moments before she was killed by woman suicide bomber in Paris siege
- Anti-terror dog died during a massive firefight with suspected Paris jihadis
- Witness said she was blown to pieces when woman detonated suicide vest
- As tributes poured in, one handler said: 'It's like losing one our colleagues'
- The hashtag #JeSuisChien (I am a dog) has also been trending on Twitter
- See news full coverage of the ISIS terror attacks in Paris
This heartbreaking photograph shows heroic police dog Diesel moments before she was blown up by a suicide bomber during the siege in Paris.
The seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd died this morning in a firefight with suspected ISIS militants behind the Paris massacre who were holed up in a flat.
She was sent in to the building to sniff out booby traps but was blown to pieces when a woman came out firing her AK-47 at police and then detonated her suicide vest.
Tributes quickly poured in to the much-loved canine who had been decorated with service medals after a distinguished career in the force.
One police handler said it was 'a little like losing one of our colleagues' while a Twitter user said Diesel had 'died to defend our colours'.
Diesel's death sparked a wave of mourning across social media, under the Twitter hashtag #JeSuisChien.
The hashtag, which means I am a dog and was trending on Twitter, is a reference to the worldwide cry of solidarity 'Je Suis Charlie' in the wake of the terror attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine in January.
Scroll down for video
Final moments: Diesel (centre) is seen being led towards the flat to sniff out booby traps minutes before she was killed by a jihadi bride who came out firing an AK-47 at police then detonated her suicide vest
Decorated: Seven-year-old police dog Diesel (pictured with her service medals in image identified by police officers at the scene) died during a firefight with suspected ISIS militants behind the Paris massacre
The official profile for Police Nationale tweeted that Diesel 'was killed by terrorists in the current operation in Saint-Denis'.
A source told MailOnline: 'When the policemen arrived with the dog, the dog came in first and was immediately killed. The French people are sad about her death.'
The force said that 'assault and explosives' search dogs are indispensable to the work of the French anti-terror unit known as RAID.
Sky News anchor Kay Burley, who was mocked this week for tweeting a picture of a dog in Paris with the caption ‘sadness in his eyes’, has joined the Twitter trend.
he tweeted a Police Nationale photograph of a force dog in honour of Diesel, with just the hashtag #JeSuisChien.
More than 100 armed officers stormed a flat in Saint-Denis this morning believing Paris massacres mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was inside with six other terrorists - but the French authorities will not say if he was there or if he is dead or alive.
A female terrorist believed to be Abaaoud's jihadi bride or cousin blew herself up with a suicide vest and another suspect died during the six-hour siege where five people were taken alive and arrested. Two more suspects were held 'nearby'.
Lotfi, a 50-year-old who was in the area, said: 'I heard police officers talking to a woman with long blonde hair.
'I think she was the kamikaze. They told her not to lower her arms, to keep her hands up in the air, and then there was a massive explosion.
'I think that's when she detonated her bomb. It really was a very loud explosion.'
'Lots of windows on the street were shattered, and then the firefight started and it was going on nonstop.'
The Twitter profile for Police Nationale tweeted this image another police dog while paying tribute to Diesel
Lofti, who would not offer his surname, said he saw Diesel blown to pieces.
State broadcaster France 2 has claimed the group was a 'fourth unit' on top of the three who killed 129 on Friday and were planning simultaneous attacks with AK-47s and bombs on Charles de Gaulle airport and the Quatre Temps shopping centre in the city's business district, Le Défense.
The Saint-Denis siege started at 4.25am when SWAT teams and special forces surrounded the building after security services hunting for Abaaoud spent days watching flats and tapping phones.
The stand-off ended as a bloodied and half-naked suspect was dragged out of the apartment close to the Stade de France at 10.24am.
At least five police were injured in the ferocious gunfight including one shot in the foot seen being carried from the scene.
Witnesses told MailOnline their street was 'turned into a warzone' after long periods of machine gun fire and at least seven large explosions, caused by the suicide bomber and hand grenades.
There were no hostages involved.
It came a Europe-wide alert was put out for a Citroen Xsara car that could be carrying Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive wanted in the Paris attacks, a Spanish security official said.
It was sent by Spanish authorities to border control police in the north-eastern Catalonia region next to France.
The security official confirmed the document was authentic but said the bulletin was sent to authorities across Europe and not only to Spain.
Mystery suspect: Hooded police officers pull a man arrested in the gun battle through crowds of other officers and soldiers as the Saint-Denis siege ended after six hours
Drama: The terror suspect was dragged from the building and broken glass with no trousers on - presumably in case he was wearing a suicide belt - as police trained their weapons on the flat
As the Saint-Denis siege ended after six hours this morning, it was revealed:
- Paris massacres mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was believed to be inside the safehouse at centre of the raid;
- Police and secret services were watching several flats in Saint-Denis and had tapped phones in the area before they swooped at 4.25am;
- Operation became more important after a tip-off that the Paris terror cell were about to launch a new attack on city's business district, La Defense;
- Two terror suspects have been killed. One was a female suicide bomber who blew herself up. French and Belgian media have reported she is Abaaoud's wife or a cousin. The other fatality was a man killed by a grenade;
- Two of the arrested terror plotters have been shot in the arm and are being operated on at a secure hospital in Bobigny, Paris;
- Seven people have been arrested. Five were held in the flat or the 'rubble' inside apartment block and two more were held nearby;
- Five police officers were injured. A Belgian Shepherd sniffer dog called Diesel was sent in to the block and killed by the terror cell;
- French government confirms that all 129 victims of Friday's attacks have now been identified;
- David Cameron tells MPs one Briton died – Nick Alexander - three have been released from hospital and further 15 being treated for trauma.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said authorities are still working to determine the fate of Abaaoud - and identify those killed and arrested.
He said confirmed three suspected jihadis were held in the flat and two more 'as they tried to hide in the rubble' of the block.
In their sights: Police move in on the apartment where the female suicide bomber blew herself up after firing an AK-47 machine at officers. At least one other jihadi is also dead since the stand-off started at dawn
Arrests: Seven people in total have been arrested in the operation including two people away from the under siege flat, left outside a shopping centre and right near the apartment block
Map: The raid was on a flat in the north of Paris - close to the three attacks close to the Stade de France - and not far from the shootings and suicide attacks on Bataclan and a series of bars, restaurants and cafes
He said: 'It is currently impossible to give the identify of those arrested, which is being verified. Everything will be done to work out who is who and thanks to forensics who and was in the apartment'.
Mr Molins said police began the raid on Wednesday after gathering information that he could be in a safehouse apartment in Saint-Denis. Mr Molins said the information was collected from tapped telephone conversations, surveillance and witness accounts.
He told reporters after the operation was over that authorities are still working to determine who was inside.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve arrived in Saint-Denis and said: 'I would like to pay tribute to all those involved in the operation, 110 in total, who acted with bravery and under heavy fire in conditions that they had never experienced before.
'I would also like to pay tribute to the cool-headedness of St Denis residents. They also contributed to the success of the operation'.
Armed police appeared on a street outside the Saint-Denis flat before dawn today and then at least three trucks of soldiers and special forces arrived as back up.
Witnesses told MailOnline said there were long periods of intense machine gun fire and at least seven large explosions.
Lotfi, a 50-year-old who was in the area, said: 'I heard police officers talking to a woman with long blonde hair.
'I think she was the kamikaze. They told her not to lower her arms, to keep her hands up in the air, and then there was a massive explosion. I think that's when she detonated her bomb. It really was a very loud explosion.
'Lots of windows on the street were shattered, and then the firefight started and it was going on nonstop.'
Lofti, who would not offer his surname, said he saw a police dog called Diesel blown to pieces. The German Shepherd was there to sniff out explosives.
One of the arrested suspects is the man who appears to have rented the flat to the terror cell.
Jawad Ben Dowt, 30, admitted in an interview near the under siege apartment on Rue de Corbillon he handed it over to two men 'who came from Belgium' two days ago.
He said: 'A friend of mine asked me to host two of his buddies for a few days.
'I said there was no mattress, they told me 'it's okay', they just wanted water and to pray. My friend said they were from Belgium.
'I was asked to a favour and I said yes. I was not aware that it was terrorists' - moments later police grabbed him and put him in handcuffs.
A female friend of his who was also held said she stayed there last week and described it as a 'squat' and said the Belgian men arrived on Monday.
A woman living below the under-siege flat with her young baby described being 'woken up by an explosion'.
Investigation: After the siege ended this morning a huge team of forensics started work outside the flat - marking out spent bullets with numbers next to them with a bloodied blue mattress thrown out of the window of the building (bottom of picture)
Secretive: French medics were ordered to put up sheets as some seven people arrested were transferred to Bobigny hospital. Two have been shot in the arm and are being operated on at a secure hospital in Bobigny, Paris
She told French broadcaster BMFTV: 'I awoke to an explosion. After that I heard gun shots and there was lots of shooting. The terrorists were fighting at the police and the police were firing back.
'There were shots, explosions. We didn't know where to go. My son and I were in panic.
'There was dust falling from the ceiling because of the explosions. I kept shouting 'If you're from the police, please help me. I'm here with my baby. But they kept shooting and shooting'.
Residents said they were first woken by an explosion which shook the neighbourhood at about 4am (3am GMT) as police surrounded the flat, although it is not known what led them to the building.
Witnesses say this was followed by an hour of automatic gunfire and explosions as an intense firefight ensued between police and the suspects holed up in the apartment.
Neighbour Amine Guizani said: 'They were shooting for an hour. Nonstop. There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again.'
Teams of armed police appeared on a street outside the Saint-Denis flat before dawn today and then at least three trucks of soldiers and special forces arrived as back up.
Police cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings and cleared people from the streets, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads.
Sporadic bangs and blast continued and at 7.30am French time at least seven explosions shook the centre of Saint-Denis.
A woman who may be Abaaoud's wife is said to have fired her AK-47 at police before blowing herself up with a suicide vest as an assault squad stormed the apartment block. The siege ended at 10.34am.
EXCLUSIVE: ON YOUR KNEES! SHOW ME YOUR BACK! MOMENT FRENCH POLICE SWOOP ON TERROR APARTMENT
This is the dramatic moment two suspects are arrested by police during a six-hour siege on a flat where the Paris massacre mastermind and six other terrorists were were thought to be hiding.
In one video, a man is cornered by armed police with riot shields who shout in English: 'On your knees! Show me your back!'
As the suspect drops to the floor with his hands behind his head, the officer bellows at him: 'Show me your back!'
Cornered: This is the dramatic moment a suspect is arrested by police during a six-hour siege on a flat where the Paris massacre mastermind and six other terrorists were were thought to be hiding
The suspect was cornered by officers who shout in English: 'On your knees! Show me your back!'
He gets slowly to his feet and turns away as the officers, standing behind their shields, close in to arrest him.
In other footage, an officer shields himself as two others crouch down next to a second suspect in blue trainers and jeans who is lying injured on the ground.
Both videos were captured on a mobile phone inside the Marche de Saint Denis, an open-air shopping centre, yards from a flat where a female suicide bomber blew herself up during a six-hour siege by police hunting the masterminds behind the Paris atrocities.
Other pictures also show a third person being tackled to the floor in the deserted shopping mall, home to C&A and close to the Metro, which is normally packed with shoppers.
He was handcuffed and bundled into a police car.
Gloria Mukenga, who shot the photos from her home close to the police operation at about 7am, told MailOnline: 'We were woken up by an explosion. We went to the window.
'There was gun shots for about 30 minutes. There was no police in sight. Finally they arrived.
'The armed police took up positions around the square. They made everybody in the square put their hands up. We heard people crying out.'
In other footage, an officer shields himself as two others crouch down next to a second suspect in blue trainers and jeans who is lying injured on the ground
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3323495/Hero-police-dog-blown-terrorists-stand-Diesel-seven-year-old-Belgian-Shepherd-honoured-dying-defend-colours-killed-suicide-bomber-sent-apartment.html#ixzz3rs6yepiR
