A man was shot and fatally wounded Saturday in the eastern French city of Strasbourg while being arrested by police in a nationwide anti-terrorist operation, judicial and police sources said. President Francois Hollande had talks with Interior Minister Manuel Valls about the operation, which the Elysee Palace said netted seven people. Police sources said the sweep was directed at a suspected Salafist network and linked to an attack last month on a Jewish grocery near Paris. The roundup targeted suspects in several cities around France. Hollande stressed "the full determination of the state to protect French people against all forms of terrorist threats," the presidential palace said. According to initial reports, when police entered the suspect's home in Strasbourg he shot at them. The Elysee statement said he died as a result of return fire, without giving further details. But a source close to the inquiry said the 33-year-old man was seated on a couch in his living when the police entered and he fired several shots at them with a powerful handgun before he was killed. Three police were slightly wounded, one being hit in the head and another in the chest, but they were protected by their helmets and bullet-proof waistcoats.
