Paris shooting: Shots fired in car chase northeast of Paris

Police monitor the situation from a helicopter where the two Charlie Hebdo suspects are holed up in a factory

PARIS: Two brothers suspected of killing 12 people in an unprecedented attack in France held one person hostage on Friday as police cornered the gunmen northeast of the capital.

The hostage drama unfolded at a printing business in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, only 12km from Paris’s main Charles de Gaulle airport, police sources said.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that an operation was under way to “neutralise” the suspects as the massive manhunt appeared to be reaching a dramatic climax with helicopters buzzing overhead.

Prior to the standoff, the suspects had hijacked a Peugeot 206 nearby from a woman who said she recognised them as the brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi, accused of killing 12 people in Wednesday’s attack on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which repeatedly lampooned the Prophet Mohammed.

The attack was France’s deadliest bloodbath in half a century.

Prosecutors told AFP there had been no casualties in the shoot-out.

The frantic search for the pair came as it emerged they had been on a US terror watch list “for years”. – AFP