’ he said.Around 15 minutes after are the Kouachi brothers were killed

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(Daily Mail) Three Islamic jihadists were dead last night after Special Forces brought an end to more than two days of slaughter which have left at least 17 dead and spread terror across France.Said and Cherif Kouachi, the brothers who had assassinated 12 people at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, died in a blaze of gunfire at a printworks near Paris where they had been holed up with one hostage, who survived.Moments later, dozens of commandos stormed a Jewish grocery 25 miles away in east Paris where accomplice Amedy Coulibaly was threatening to kill 15 terrified captives, including women and children.In an earlier phone call to a journalist, Coulibaly confirmed that he was in contact with the Kouachis and the attacks had been ‘synchronised’. He said he had sworn allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and had targeted the shop because ‘it was Jewish’The 32-year-old, responsible for the death of a woman police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe on Thursday, was also ‘neutralised’ in the assault. But his 27-year-old girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene – described as ‘armed and dangerous’ is on the run.Witnesses watched in horror as freed hostages fled the scene screaming, some carrying their children in their arms. ‘It’s war!” screamed a mother as she dragged her daughter from the scene.It emerged that four people had been killed while another five are critically wounded. As many as 30 had survived by hiding in a cold store where they kept silent for hours.The bloody climax to the terrorists’ rampage began at around 4.30pm when the Kouachi brothers came out firing’ Kalashnikovs as officers launched an assault on a building in Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris.Commandos were seen rappelling from a Puma helicopter on to the roof as flash bang grenades were hurled at the factory to disorientate the jihadists, who had been inside for nine hours. Explosions and automatic gunfire could be heard up to a mile away.Said, 34, and Cherif, 32, were both killed. They had earlier told police that they were ‘ready to die as martyrs’.One officer from the elite GIGN commando unit is thought to have been injured, while hostage Michel Catalano – the manager of a design company – escaped unharmed.It also emerged that the police were aided by a 27-year-old graphic designer who hid inside a box with his phone for more than six hours.Back in Paris, the grocery shop siege was also heading towards a bloody climax. Commandos are said to have hacked in the CCTV of the supermarket, and also communicated with one of the hostages by mobile phone.Coulibaly, meanwhile, gave an interview to a French TV station at the height of the siege where he swore allegiance to Islamic State and said the three days of mayhem had been ‘synchronised’.He confirmed he had shot a policewoman in the south of Paris the previous day and said his terror attacks were synchronised with the Kouachi brothers. ‘Them Charlie Hebdo; me the police,’ he said.Around 15 minutes after are the Kouachi brothers were killed, dozens of officers poured into the shop amid a hail of gunfire and loud explosions which rocked surrounding streets. The shopfront was suddenly lit up by a fireball. Two policemen fell to the floor injured.Ambulances raced to the scene, joining a jam of police vans and other emergency vehicles, all under the eye of helicopters.As hostages broke free, an astonishing story emerged of how dozens had hidden in a walk-in freezer, cowering in minus three temperatures and praying they would not be found.Coulibay had warned he would kill all of his hostages if police launched an assault on the Kouachis. It is unclear if he had carried out his threat before police moved in.Both Cherif Kouachi and Coulibaly had spoken to journalists by phone earlier in the day. Kouachi knew he was talking to a journalist and the conversation was recorded.He said: ‘I am a defender of the prophet. I was sent by Al Qaeda of Yemen. I’m financed by Imam Anwar al Awlaqi. Anwar is a (preacher)’. Koucahi went on to claim that the journalists he had killed at Charlie Hebdo were not civilians but legitimate targets.Millions had watched gripped on television as the three-day manhunt for the terrorists had ended in bloody shootouts, car chases and sieges.At one point seven helicopters and more than 50 police and military vehicles had been involved in a high speeds chase during which shots were fired after the Kouachis broke cover from a forest where they had been sheltering 50 miles north east of Paris.They were forced in to the industrial estate at Dammartin-en-Goele where they made their last stand.Local residents were evacuated or ordered to lock themselves in their homes as what was described as ‘a small army’ of soldiers and police surrounded them, throwing a cordon around the area.‘They said they want to die as martyrs,’ Yves Albarello, a local lawmaker who was inside the command post claimed.Last night, French President Francois Hollande spoke to the nation promising ‘all necessary measures will be used’ to protect the French people and called on them to remain united in ‘these difficult times.’He said the attacks had been carried out by fanatics who had nothing to do with Islam and said the assault on the grocery shop was ‘anti-semetic.’The country must remain vigilant against the possibility of further attacks, he stressed.In Paris, police say Coulibaly, 32, was using the hostages as a bargaining chip to try to scupper the police response further north. He was said to be working with a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, and is said to have yelled at police: ‘You know who I am’ when they responded to the shooting.Police had earlier scrambled phone signals in the area after the gunmen contacted Coulibay while inside the building.Revelations that a call was made by the Kouachis suggests they may have instructed Coulibay to carry out yesterday’s atrocity to leverage their escape.There were reports of another alert near the Eiffel Tower, with police seen training their guns down the stairs of a Metro station, but it was a false alarm.Local media reports that the brothers met Coulibay while in prison.He is believed to be a fellow member of the Buttes Chaumont – a gang from the 19th arrondissement of Paris that sent jihadists to fight in Iraq.Prior to the standoff, the brothers hijacked a Peugeot 206 from a woman in Ermenonville Forest, close to the village of Montagny-Sainte-Felicite, abandoning their Renualt Clio.A teacher named Charlene Blondelle was driving to work in the morning when she saw two men with guns stop the vehicle in front of her.It was only when she got to work at the village school that she realised the two heavily-armed men were the Kouachi brothers.Jean Paul Douet, the mayor of the village, said Charlene saw the two men force the woman out of the car and sit in the back seat.It is thought that she was later let out of the car as the men continued their journey to Dammartin-en-Goele.Mr Douet told MailOnline: ‘The car was taken at around 8.10am. The village teacher arrived at her school to see a car being hijacked in front of her.‘She saw their weapons, and in particular their rocket-propelled grenade launcher.’A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said there was an exchange of gunfire with police who were manning a roadblock on the N2 motorway as the brother sped towards Paris.He told France Info radio that no-one was injured in the clash.Dozens of police then pursued the brothers along the National 2 highway, ending in Dammartin-en-Goele, close to the area where the huge manhunt had been focused on a forest overnight.They escaped on foot with a hostage into a small printing business named Creating Trend Discovery, just before 10am (9am GMT).Residents were warned on the town’s official website to stay indoors and pupils were being kept inside school.The hunt also affected flights at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, which closed two runways to arrivals to avoid interfering in the standoff or endangering planes.