French police launch anti-terror raids amid fears Paris attackers still on run
POLICE have launched dramatic counter-terrorism raids across France in the wake of last week's horrific Paris attacks.
French police by the Eiffel Tower after Friday's attacks
Raids are reported to be taking place in Toulouse, Grenoble, Calais, the Paris suburb of Bobigny, and Jeumont, near the Belgian border.
At least three people have already been taken into custody after the Toulouse raids, according to local media.
Officers allegedly made several arrests and seized weapons in the raids in Grenoble, a city in south-east of the country.
Half a dozen raids are thought to have carried out in both the city and the surrounding suburbs of Echirolles and Fountain Saint-Martin-d'Heres.
A huge manhunt was launched for surviving members and accomplices after the brutal massacre on Friday.
Suspect Saleh Abdeslam is known to be on the run after slipping through the grasp of police on Saturday morning.
He was pulled over by officers on a motorway between Paris and Brussels but was let go after he showed his ID card.
Mourners in Berlin pay their respects to the victims
The Belgian-born 26-year-old is suspected of renting a car that was used in the horrific attack at the Bataclan theatre.
His brother Brahim Abdeslam, 31, reportedly detonated his explosive vest inside a busy cafe on Boulevard Voltaire.
No one else died in the blast at 9:40pm local time but one person was severely injured, according to officials.
Officers have closed roads near the Bataclan theatre
Pictures taken in Toulouse this morning and shared on social media show dozens of police vans travelling in convoy.
Toulouse was the site of a shocking terror attack in 2012.
Islamic militant Mohamed Merah killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three paratroopers before being killed in a shoot-out with police.
The sickening attacks have shocked France to the core
Twenty vehicles were involved in raids in Jeumont – near the Belgian border – according to L'Observateur le Sambre.
The forces involved in the raids are RAID and GIPN – tactical units of the French national police force.
The raids come just hours after France launched "massive" airstrikes in Raqqa – the de-facto capital of ISIS.
French jets are thought to have destroyed a key terrorist command centre and a training camp in the Syrian city.
Foreign minister Laurent Fabius said France had the "legitimacy" to take action against the evil group.
He said the move was a "political" one and that France had to be "present and active" in the wake of Friday's attacks.