Explosions and gunfire rang out early Wednesday as heavily armed police surrounded a suburban Paris apartment where suspects are holed up.

Police said two people were dead during the operation, including woman who blew herself up.

A senior French police official says the large police operation north of Paris is targeting the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

The official says authorities believe Abaaoud is holed up in an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, along with up to five other heavily armed people.

The official, who was not authorised to be publicly named according to police rules but is informed routinely about the operation, says that scores of police who stormed the building early Wednesday were met with unexpectedly violent resistance. Reinforcements were summoned and several people were injured.

Live updates:

12.35 p.m. IST: Two dead in Paris siege, including woman who blew herself up, say police. Military deployed amid shootout.

12.25 p.m. IST: A senior French police official says the large police operation north of Paris is targeting the suspected mastermind of last week’s attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

The official says authorities believe Abaaoud is holed up in an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, along with up to five other heavily armed people.

The official, who was not authorised to be publicly named according to police rules but is informed routinely about the operation, says that scores of police who stormed the building early Wednesday were met with unexpectedly violent resistance. Reinforcements were summoned and several people were injured.

12.15 p.m. IST: Authorities have evacuated about 20 residents from a building where suspects linked to the Paris attacks are holed up in a standoff with police.

A city official not authorised to be publicly named told The Associated Press the residents were brought to city hall for protection. City hall is about 200 m from the apartment building where the standoff is taking place on rue du Cornillon, in the heart of the historic, multicultural town just north of Paris.

Saint-Denis is one of France’s most historic places. French kings were crowned and buried through the centuries in its famed basilica. Today it is home to a vibrant and very ethnically diverse population and sees sporadic tension between police and violent youths.

12.06 p.m. IST: At least seven explosions have been heard at the scene of the police standoff. Associated Press reporters at the scene could hear what sounded like grenade blasts from the direction of the standoff in Saint-Denis.

The source of the blasts is unclear. Police say several people are holed up in an apartment and several police have been injured in an operation that has lasted at least three hours on Wednesday morning.

12:02 p.m. IST: Baptiste Marie, a 26-year-old independent journalist who lives near the scene of the standoff, tells The Associated Press: “It started with an explosion. Then there was second big explosion. Then two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire.”

Resident Amin Guizani, 21, says: “There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again.”

Riot police were clearing the streets early Wednesday, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads.

11: 50 a.m. IST: Intense gunfire and explosions heard at the site.

11.34 a.m. IST: Raid targets suspected Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud: French police source

11.25 a.m. IST: Police say anti-terrorist officers are raiding an apartment in a north Paris suburb where several men are holed up.

The Paris police department says officers have exchanged gunfire with the suspects and several police have been injured. The extent of their injuries is unknown.

It’s unclear whether there are injuries among the suspects.

Police reinforcements are arriving at the scene in Sain-Denis.

10.57 a.m. IST: Police vans and fire trucks are rushing to the scene of a SWAT team operation in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis that is linked to the deadly Paris attacks.

A helicopter is flying overhead at dawn on Wednesday.

French television BFM and i-Tele say that the suspects are inside an apartment building.

Police have cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings.

Neighbourhood resident Fabien Crombe said on BFM television that gunshots have repeatedly broken out since the police operation began, punctuated by silence and the sound of sirens.

Saint-Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said transport has been stopped and schools in the centre of town will not open on Wednesday.

10.45 a.m. IST: Authorities in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis are telling residents to stay inside during a large police operation near France’s national stadium that two officials say is linked to last week’s deadly attacks.

Deputy Mayor Stephane Peu told i-Tele television that there have been many gun shots and detonations in the operation that began at 4.25 a.m. (8.55 a.m. IST) on Wednesday on rue de la Republique in the centre of Saint-Denis.

The site is less than 2 km from the Stade de France, targeted by three suicide bombers during Friday’s attacks.

Two officials say police operation now under way is connected to the investigation into Friday’s attacks that killed 129 people.

One police official says there have been exchanges of gunfire and special SWAT teams are on the scene. The official was not authorised to be publicly named according to police policy.

Police have blocked off the area around Place Jean Jaures in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris.

French authorities have said they are searching for at least two people involved in last Friday’s attacks, which killed at least 129 people and 7 terrorists.

Ambulances can be seen and sirens heard in French television footage from the scene.

Shots rang out in the Saint-Denis area of northern Paris early on Wednesday as special police forces launched an operation to catch one of the suspects from Friday night’s shooting in the French capital, TV stations BFMTV and iTele both reported.

The gunfire is linked to the hunt for fugitives from Friday's shooting by Islamist militants in the French capital, a police source told Reuters.

BFMTV said some police had been wounded during the operation.(Agencies)