“Diesel, a seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd, a female assault dog … was killed by terrorists during the operation,” according to the Twitter account of France's police.
[INFO] Diesel, malinois de 7 ans, chienne d'assaut du #RAID a été tuée par les terroristes dans l'opération en cours #SaintDenis
— Police Nationale (@PNationale) November 18, 2015
“Assault and explosives detection dogs are vital in the operations of RAID”, said the specialist anti-terrorist unit of the French police which launched the dawn assault targeting the suspected mastermind of Friday's attacks in Paris.
The hashtag #JeSuisChien (I am a dog) was trending on French Twitter after the announcement.
Two suspected jihadists were killed during the raid which saw automatic gunfire and explosions ring through the working class suburb since 4:00am.
One of them was a woman who detonated an explosives vest.
Seven other people were arrested. Five police officers suffered minor injuries.
The operation comes as part of a manhunt to find any links to the devastating string of attacks on Friday that left 129 dead and hundreds injured in a concert hall, bars and restaurants and outside France's national stadium.
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