At least one civilian and two suspected terrorists died in an encounter between terrorists and French elite forces in St Denis, Paris on Wednesday, according to initial reports. One of the dead includes a female suicide bomber who blew herself up.

Three police officers have also reportedly been injured in these encounters. Police arrested an additional five suspected terrorists during the operations.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, has also been killed.

Police launched a raid in the northern suburb of Paris in the wee hours of Wednesday in a bid to capture Abaaoud and a ninth conspirator Salah Abdeslam who are suspected to be involved in the recent Paris killings which claimed 129 lives on Friday.

Following the terror attacks on Friday, the country escalated their operations against ISIS hideouts in Syria and police in Paris conducted raids as part of a nationwide crackdown. French president, Francois Hollande said, “France is at war” on Monday after declaring a state of emergency following the attacks.