12 Dead in Daytime Paris Attack at Satirical Magazine

[David Guyatt]

Paris attacks: Special forces hit Amedy Coulibaly with 40 bullets

Tributes have been paid to the 17 victims of the Paris terrorist attacks, as startling accounts of the Vincennes supermarket siege were told for the first time

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By Harriet Alexander

9:49PM GMT 11 Jan 2015



The first photo from inside the supermarket, taken during the siege, has been revealed showing a man, thought to be Rudy Hada, hidden in the freezer in the basement of the Hyper Cacher besides a young woman and Sarah Bitton, a 20-year-old Belgian cradling her baby.

And the photo emerged as members of France's special forces recounted the events of Friday afternoon telling how they had worked for over 50 hours straight before the raid; how Amedy Coulibaly, the jihadi gunman, attempted to barter to free the hostages; and how they eventually stormed the store and killed Coulibaly in a hail of over 40 bullets.

Coulibaly, 32, walked into the Jewish supermarket at 1pm on Friday, killing four people inside and taking a further 17 hostage. He was a close associate of the Kouachi brothers, who at that same moment were besieged in a factory in Dammartin-en-Goele, 20 miles to the north east of Vincennes.

"When that attack begun, we were suddenly not tired any more," said Jean-Pierre, one of the members of the Raid police. "It was a shot of adrenalin."

Another of the special forces officers, named as "Stan" in Le Parisien, said that as soon as they arrived at the scene, they began to assess the location.

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"We moved forwards in an assault column before taking our positions close to the shop," he said. "We had made several circuits of the supermarket and got very close. We wanted to see what state the entry points were in, in order to plan our assault."
At first they wanted to take him alive. But, on observing his behaviour, they realised he wanted to die in a shoot-out with the police.
"Sincerely, one of the things that most motivated us was that video of the odious assassination of our colleague Ahmed Merabet outside Charlie," said Jean-Pierre. "We all had that image in our heads."
Stan said that they were initially told there were five hostages inside, but that figure could not be confirmed.
"We had managed to make telephone contact with one of the clients who was hiding in the cold store in the basement. They told us that there was a one-month-old baby inside that room. The baby would only have survived for two hours inside there. But we were able to cut the electricity."
It was this response which likely saved the life of Miss Bitton's baby.

[SUP]New footage from Paris attacks shows hostages released[/SUP]In the picture, Miss Bitton the daughter of a kosher butchers in Uccle, Belgium, who has lived in Paris for many years is seen looking down at her 11-month-old child, wrapped in her black puffer jacket. Mr Hada stares forlornly at the camera.
[SUP]A man, thought to be Rudy Hada, hidden in the freezer in the basement of the Hyper Cacher besides a young woman and Sarah Bitton, a 20-year-old Belgian cradling her baby. (Photo: Xclusive Pix/OIC)[/SUP]
Above their heads, Coulibaly had pulled down the shutters around the shop, but the police realised it was possible to see inside. Six hostages were on the ground floor.
"Our snipers could not risk taking a shot at him, because there were advertising posters all over the windows and it was impossible to get a clean shot," said Stan.
The terrorist then told the hostage negotiator, who had managed to establish telephone communications, that he wanted to be allowed to broadcast live on a TV channel in exchange for releasing a boy of around ten years old. The authorities decided not to allow that.
Jean-Pierre said that the end of both siege situations in the Vincennes supermarket, and 45 minutes away at a print works in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Kouachi brothers were holed up was planned to take place simultaneously, just before nightfall.
But in the end the Kouachi brothers decided to come out at around 5pm at the same time that Coulibaly was praying and so both operations begun at the same time anyway, regardless of the plan.
Two sticks of explosives had been placed on the door of the supermarket, ready for the team to blow their way in.
"The terrorist immediately opened fire on us," said Stan. "He shot at us with his Kalachnikov. Then he retreated into the shop."
Stan thought Coulibaly had gone back in to kill the hostages.
A third member of the team, "Marc", told Le Parisien that they faced a "hail of bullets" from Coulibaly.
"In front of us we had a man, ultra precise, well trained, who knew how to work his AK47," he said.
Coulibaly had placed shopping trolleys in the doorway, which impeded their entry.
"Then he threw himself at us," said Stan.
He was met with fire from the police, ending up with at least 40 bullets in his body.
"It was like a bomb had gone off in there," said Marc.
They hurried to evacuate the hostages, ushering Miss Bitton and Mr Hada out she looking overjoyed, and him giving a thumbs-up sign. She told medical staff she feared her child might have suffered from hypothermia following their ordeal, but the child was reported to be "safe and healthy", with rosy cheeks and a normal temperature of 37.
A source said: "The mother is happy and relieved. The baby did not suffer from hypothermia following his period in the cold store. Both mother and baby are doing well."
Mr Hada has now gone skiing, on a long-planned holiday. He had been in the supermarket to buy provisions for his trip.
The special forces found that Coulibaly had booby trapped the store, leaving a door packed with several kilos of explosives. They also found that he had on him a stockpile of ammunition, submachine guns and automatic weapons.
"The hostages all thanked us," said Jean-Pierre. "Some of my colleagues had tears in their eyes."
And, after a day of rest, he was back at work providing security for the massive solidarity march through Paris.
"I haven't watched the video of the assault yet," he said. "I think I might wait a bit."

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