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The French Prime Minister has acknowledged that the death toll over three days of terrorist attacks and manhunts in Paris shows a “clear failing” in security and intelligence.
Manuel Valls told television station BMF TV that 17 people had died since Wednesday, when eight journalists, two police officers, a caretaker and a visitor were massacred at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
While the gunmen were on the run, associate Amédy Coulibaly killed a 26-year-old police officer on Thursday and on Friday burst into a kosher grocery shop in Paris, shooting four people dead and keeping the rest as hostages until police stormed the building hours later.
All three suspects were killed by special forces when their hideouts were raided. Mr Valls said their deaths were unavoidable because they opened fire on police.
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages including a child (C) after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
He admitted there had been “flaws” in the way intelligence services tracked people likely to commit attacks as evidence emerged of the trio’s links to known terrorists, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Isis.
Like in Britain, hundreds of French Islamists are believed to have travelled to Syria or Iraq, stoking authorities’ fears of returning jihadists planning attacks on home ground.
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siegeShow all 25 1 /25In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French special forces sharp shooters take position on a rooftop of the complex at the scene of a hostage taking at an industrial zone in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Special Forces sniper works on a roof the building on an industrial estate where it is thought the suspects linked to the Charlie Hebdo massacre are holding a hostage in Dammartin en Goele
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Police take up a position on a roof in Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris, where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Moment of explosion at Dammartin en Goele
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Smoke rises from a building in Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris, where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French gendarmes secure the roundabout near the scene of a hostage taking at an industrial zone in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Members of the French intervention gendarme forces arrive at the scene of a hostage taking at an industrial zone in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French gendarmes block the access to the city of Dammartin-en-Goele where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Officers of the french Special Police Forces look for the suspects linked to the 'Charlie Hebdo' attack near Dammartin-en-Goelle
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French gendarmes secure the roundabout near the scene of a hostage taking at an industrial zone in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French gendarmes patrol in Dammartin-en-Goele
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Ambulances arrive in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast Paris, as part of an operation to seize two heavily armed suspects
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A police officer stands along a road near an industrial area where the suspects in the shooting attack at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo headquarters are reportedly holding a hostage, in Dammartin-en-Goele, some 40 kilometres north-east of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A French police officer stands on the roof of a building where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen, in Dammartin-en-Goele
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A French Army helicopter with intervention forces hovers near the scene of a hostage taking at an industrial zone in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Helicopters of the French Special Police Forces waits in a field surrounding an industrial estate where it is thought the suspects linked to the Charlie Hebdo massacre are holding a hostage in Dammartin en Goele
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Police and army forces take positions in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast Paris, as part of an operation to seize two heavily armed suspects
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Police vans are lined up in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast Paris, as part of an operation to seize two heavily armed suspects
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French police patrol in Dammartin-en-Goele where a hostage-taking was underway after police hunting the Islamist brothers who killed 12 people in Paris, exchanged fire with two men during a car chase
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Police officers gather to prepare an assault in an industrial area where the suspects in the shooting attack at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo headquarters are reportedly holding a hostage, in Dammartin-en-Goele, some 40 kilometres north-east of Paris
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting French police and gendarmes patrol in Dammartin-en-Goele where a hostage-taking was underway after police hunting the Islamist brothers who killed 12 people in Paris, exchanged fire with two men during a car chase
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A helicopter of the French Gendarmerie flies over Dammartin-en-Goele where a hostage-taking was underway after police hunting the Islamist brothers who killed 12 people in Paris, exchanged fire with two men during a car chase
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A member of French special forces stands on the roof of a building as a hostage-taking was underway after police hunting the Islamist brothers who killed 12 people in Paris, exchanged fire with two men during a car chase
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting A helicopter flies over Dammartin-en-Goele where a hostage-taking was underway after police hunting the Islamist brothers who killed 12 people in Paris, exchanged fire with two men during a car chase
In pictures: Charlie Hebdo suspects siege Charlie Hebdo shooting Police officers stop a car at a check point outside Longpont
Mr Valls told BMF TV that France would wage a “war against terrorism” after the unprecedented attacks and vowed to protect a national march scheduled for Sunday in Paris, due to be attended by President Francois Hollande, David Cameron and other world leaders.
“I saw this to our citizens – we must respond by gathering around our values of democracy…do not lose your values, that is what the terrorists want.”
He promised “massive security measures” to be deployed in the capital and along the route of the procession, which is expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
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