French police storm Toulouse gunman's home

French police started an assault late on Wednesday on the apartment of a gunman suspected of killing seven people in southwest France in the name of al-Qaeda, officials said.

Three loud blasts were heard at the site just before midnight, which blew open the door of the apartment where the gunman had been holed up since 3 am, a police source said. The deputy mayor of Toulouse Jean-Pierre Havrin confirmed that negotiations had ended and the assault had begun. (Reuters)