PARIS: At least five people, including the attacker, have died at a kosher grocery in Paris where a gunman took several hostages.

French President Francois Hollande confirmed that four hostages were killed in the siege.

“It is indeed an appalling anti-Semitic act that was committed,” he said of the hostage-taking by a gunman at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in the Vincennes district.

Hollande called for national unity and said the country should remain “implacable” in the face of racism and anti-Semitism.

Security forces stormed the grocery minutes after their counterparts assaulted the building outside Paris where two brothers suspected in the Charlie Hebdo killings had holed up.

Read also: Charlie Hebdo suspects killed as French siege ends

Explosions and gunshots were heard after the police force stormed the grocery store where the gunman was holding at least five people hostages.

Several hostages were freed after French commandos stormed the Jewish supermarket, AFP reported.