A chaotic scene finally came to an end at a printing facility about north of Paris after two brothers responsible for the callous massacre of 12 employees at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were cornered and killed by French police.
Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Said Kouachi, 34, who have confirmed connections with al-Qaeda joined a gang of terrorists as they gathered hostages in a well-known Jewish enclave and hid in various locations while fighting off the French security forces who promptly had the city on lock down in attempts to capture the gunmen.
By Friday afternoon, the two brothers were located hiding with a hostage in tow in a printing facility in Dammartin-en-Goele, a town northeast of Paris, The building had already been targeted as a possibility and before long security forces populated the area – and what ensued was an aggressive exchange involving gunshots, explosions and blinding smoke.
Audrey Taupenas, a spokeswoman for the town delivered the aftermath, by announcing that the brothers had indeed perished during the elaborate assault, which brings an end to what has been a terrifying period following the heinous attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.
After the horrific events, the gunmen proceeded to continue their rule of terror, which included the roadside slaying of a policewoman on Thursday by a lone gunman who later took over a kosher grocery store with the lives of five hostages being used as bargaining chips in exchange for the two brothers who were under attack.
The suspect responsible for the grocery store attack has been identified as Amedy Coulibaly and his accomplice, a woman, has also been revealed as Hayet Boumddiene.
The wounded were able to escape the grocery store during the mayhem and get medical attention.
According to police, nearby schools followed protocol in response to the attacks by keeping at least 100 students safely secured until things were adequately situated.
Meanwhile the now deceased brothers had strong affiliations with global Islamists terrorist cells. Said Kouachi, 34, might have possibly been a soldier for al-Qaeda in Yemen while his younger brother faced charges of terrorism back in 2008 after it was proven that he was helping to ship off jihadis to Iraq for the purpose of thwarting the U.S. mission there.
Expectedly both men were on the U.S. no-fly list based on their highlighted activities.