Toulouse gunman reported dead in police raidMarch 22, 2012 - 15:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The gunman involved in a siege in an apartment building in Toulouse, southern France, is dead, following a raid by special forces, ITN reported. Sustained gunfire could be heard as officers stormed the building, in an apparent attempt to end the 30-hour stand-off. They entered through the front door and the windows, after specialist teams had removed the shutters, but they initially could not locate the suspect. He apparently emerged from the bathroom, firing his weapon. According to the French Interior Minister, Claude Gueant, officers had never encountered anything like it. "They had no choice but to defend themselves," he said. Assault rifle and lighter calibre gunfire rang out for a few minutes, and explosions were also heard. He then jumped out of a window while continuing to fire his weapon, and was later found dead on the ground. Two police officers were injured during the assault, one was hit in the foot, the other is in a state of shock. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |