Toulouse gunman dies in attack

TOULOUSE gunman Mohamed Merah is dead - shot by police as they stormed his flat this morning before he jumped from a window. He was dead on the ground.

After a day and a half of laying siege to the Toulouse flat, elite police moved into the appartment today at 11.30 and after going from room to room to find him were attacked by 23 year old Merah who had been hiding in the bathroom.

A fierce gun battle followed - heard on live TV broadcasts - that lasted nearly five minutes before Mehra jumped out of a window. It is not known if he was killed by the fall or by police fire.

Interior Minister Claude Guéant said: "Mohamed Merah jumped from a window with a gun in his hand and still firing. He was found dead on the ground."

Hours earlier Guéant had said he had "one priority: to take him alive so he can face justice".

Three police officers were hurt in the assault, one seriously.

Merah, who claims to be part of Al Qaida, is thought to have killed seven people - three paratroopers and three children and a teacher from a Toulouse Jewish school.