Toulouse shooting suspect confirmed dead.

The suspect in the Toulouse shootings spree has been found dead in his apartment, The Daily Record reported, citing the French police.

The confirmation that Mohammed Merah was dead came after the sound of explosions and gunfire at the flat where the suspect had been cornered in the city.

It is not clear if Merah had been shot by police or had taken his own life.

Earlier, France's interior minister Claude Gueant had said al-Qaeda-linked Merah wanted to "die with weapons in his hands".

Hundreds of French police have surrounded the apartment since the early hours of Wednesday and are working to try to capture Merah.

Authorities say Merah has boasted about carrying out the shootings of three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi, and three French paratroopers.

Yesterday riot police set off explosions outside the five-storey apartment building in Toulouse in an effort to force the surrender of the man who boasted of bringing France "to its knees".

Three explosions were heard and orange flashes lit up the night sky near the building.

An Interior Ministry official said the suspect had gone back on a previous decision to turn himself in - and that police blew up the shutters outside the apartment window to pressure him to surrender.

Authorities said the suspected shooter, a 24-year-old French citizen of Algerian descent, had been to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he claimed to have received training from al-Qaeda.

They said he told negotiators he killed a rabbi and three young children at a Jewish school on Monday and three French paratroopers last week to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and to protest against the French army's involvement in Afghanistan, as well as a government ban last year on face-covering Islamic veils.

"He has no regrets, except not having more time to kill more people and he boasts that he has brought France to its knees," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference.

The stand-off began when a police attempt at around 3am yesterday to detain Merah erupted into a firefight.

Two police were wounded, triggering on-and-off negotiations with the suspect that lasted into the night.