The owner of the apartment involved in the Paris siege has insisted he did not know his tenants were terrorists.

Jawad Ben Dow, who was detained by police in Saint Denis during the raid, said he had been asked to accommodate two people for a few days as a favour.

He told France's BFMTV: "I found out that it's at my house, and that the people are holed up at my flat. I didn't know they were terrorists."

He added: "Someone asked me a favour, I did them a favour.

"Someone asked me to put two people up for three days and I did them a favour, it's normal.

"I don't know where they came from, I don't know anything. If I'd known do you think I'd have done it?"

Siege ends

The siege in the northern Parisian suburb began shortly after 4.30am local time, with locals woken by the sound of gunfire and several loud explosions.

Dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes as armed police launched the raid on the apartment, where they believe the mastermind of last Friday's terror attacks – Abdelhamid Abaaoud – was holed up inside with several heavily armed suspects.

Two of the suspects have been killed, including a woman who detonated a suicide belt.

Witness reports

Witnesses to the deadly siege have said it looked like a war zone – with the sound of grenades and automatic gunfire reverberating through the street.

One woman, Sabrine, was just below the terrorists' apartment when the assault began.

She told Le Parisien: "I was woken at about four in the morning by gunfire. I lay down on the floor with my baby. It was awful.

"I heard the explosions, dozens of gunshots. My ceiling began to collapse, there was dust everywhere.

"My baby was gripping on to me when he heard the guns go off. It was never-ending."

Sabrine told the newspaper she had been lying on the floor for about two-and-a-half hours by the time she was evacuated – and described how the stairwell had been destroyed and the building wrecked during the assault.

Another resident of the building said he was asleep when the sound of gunshots woke him up and police told him to "Get out quick".

He said: "I threw myself on the floor and lay under the bed. I was scared and I waited - that is normal when you hear everyone firing, firing, firing.

"I thought if I left my house, they will kill me. While I was waiting the building was trembling underneath me.

"When I looked up, I saw that the third floor apartment had exploded, but I did not leave. I was scared. You do not know what to do."

Those who live nearby have now been relocated to the city hall.