Charlie Hebdo massacre: Paris town sealed off, police surround building with suspects

Paris: French anti-terrorist police surrounded a small northern town and helicopters hovered overhead after at least one person was taken hostage in a print works by two men believed to have carried out an attack on a Paris satirical journal.

The two men have reportedly told police negotiators they were prepared to "die as martyrs" a French lawmaker said to a local television channel.

In another incident, new shooting broke out in eastern Paris. An armed man took hostage in kosher grocery in Paris where at least one was injured.

Earlier, police had chased a vehicle at high speed along the nearby A2 motorway towards Paris as authorities appeared to be closing in on the two brothers. Gunshots rang out and police trucks, ambulances and armoured vehicles descended on the area close to Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.

Police and anti-terrorist forces blocked all entries to the town of about 8,000, clearly seeking to limit the scale of any siege.

"All residents are requested to remain at home. Children are to be kept safe in school," the municipal website said.

The danger of hostage taking or of a second attack has been a central concern of security services since the gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, killing ten journalists and two police officers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told iTELE television he was fairly sure the two suspects were in the building currently surrounded.

"We are almost certain it is those two individuals holed up in that building."

Yohann Bardoux, a plumber whose office is two doors down from the printing shop where the hostage drama is taking place stayed away from work after hearing gunfire. But he said his mother was in the building next door to the printing shop.

"Of course I'm worried about her, I hope it all comes down soon, and turns out well," Bardoux said.

"They are everywhere. It's really jumping. They've blocked the whole zones, we've got helicopters overhead, the police presence is impressive."

A senior Yemeni intelligence source told Reuters one of the two suspects, French-born sons of Algerian-born parents, was in Yemen for several months in 2011 for religious studies; but there was no confirmed information whether he was trained by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The gunmen shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) as they carried out the attack, which has been described by President Francois Holland and other world leaders as an attack on the fundaments of democracy.

The weekly newspaper appears to have been targeted because of its lampooning of Islam and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

The fugitive suspects are both in their early 30s, and were already under police surveillance. One was jailed for 18 months for trying to travel to Iraq a decade ago to fight as part of an Islamist cell. Police said they were "armed and dangerous".

Atleast five helicopters were seen flying over an industrial zone outside the town of Dammartin-en-Goele and the French Interior Minister confirmed an operation was taking place there. A police source said the two suspects had been sighted in the town, where at least one person was taken hostage.

Police officers blocked the access to Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris.

Special forces stands on the roof of a building in Dammartin-en-Goele where a hostage-taking is underway #AFP pic.twitter.com/gcm7TRRVfd

— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) January 9, 2015

In a high-level meeting, French President Francois Hollande admitted that authorities were aware that such attacks were possible. The French President also said that all citizens were welcome to participate in a memorial program, to be held on Sunday in memory of the people who lost their lives in France's 'boldest ever' terror attacks.

He assured that adequate security measures were in place to protect people from any untoward incidents during the memorial service.

Hollande also said that 'France must be prepared to act at the European level', confirming a meeting of the concerned authorities on Sunday.

Meanwhile, French media reports suggested that, police have made contact with the 2 terrorists who were holding one person hostage, and were holed-up at a warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele. The attackers have been quoted as saying they were 'prepared to die through martyrdom'.

#BREAKING Hostages taken north-east of Paris: police

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) January 9, 2015

The frantic search for the pair suspected of committing the worst atrocity on French soil in more than half a century came as it emerged they had been on a US terror watch list "for years".

And as fears spread in the wake of the attack, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 warned that Islamist militants were planning other "mass casualty attacks against the West" and that intelligence services may be powerless to stop them.

French police convoy, helicopters have rushed to scene of operation to detain shooting suspects.

France's interior minister says operation to detain suspects now underway north-east of Paris.

#BREAKING Police operation underway to 'neutralise' French massacre suspects: minister

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) January 9, 2015

Meanwhile, runway at the Charles De Gaulle airport have been closed and flights diverted.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that France is 'at war' with terrorism, not religion.

#BREAKING France 'at war' with terrorism, not religion: prime minister

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) January 9, 2015

Wednesday's bloodbath at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris has sparked a global chorus of outrage, with impromptu and poignant rallies around the world in support of press freedom under the banner "jesuischarlie" (I am Charlie).

US President Barack Obama was the latest to sign a book of condolence in Washington with the message "Vive la France!" as thousands gathered in Paris on a day of national mourning Thursday, and the Eiffel Tower dimmed its lights to honour the dead.

And as a politically divided and crisis-hit France sought to pull together in the wake of the tragedy, the head of the country's Muslim community -- the largest in Europe – urged imams to condemn terrorism at Friday prayers.

In a highly unusual step, President Francois Hollande was due to meet far-right leader Marine Le Pen at the Elysee Palace later today, as France geared up for a "Republican march" on Sunday expected to draw hundreds of thousands.

French authorities raised the security alert to the highest possible level in the region of Picardy, to the north-east of Paris, as forces tightened their noose on the brothers, Cherif Kouachi, 32 and Said, 34.

Around 24 hours into the manhunt, the brothers were identified after holding up a petrol station 80 kilometres from Paris.

Helicopters buzzed overhead during the night and paramilitary forces were preparing to step up their house-to-house searches.

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet, quoted by Reuters speaking to French TV channel iTele, says: "We are almost certain it is those two individuals holed up in that building."