Heavily
armed anti-terrorism police have swooped on residential areas northeast
of Paris in a extensive manhunt for two brothers suspected of being the
gunmen who killed 12 people at a satirical weekly in the French
capital.
Officers said the operation began after witnesses sighted the two men said to be responsible for the attack on Charlie Hebdo in a town in the Picardy region, adding that their hijacked getaway car was found in the same area.
The
manager of a petrol station near the Villers-Cotteret commune in
Picardy said he “recognised the two men suspected of having participated
in the attack against Charlie Hebdo,” police sources said.
Villers-Cotteret is located approximately 80km northeast of Paris.
The
latest getaway car of the attackers, who hijacked multiple vehicles
after the incident, was found abandoned around the same area.
The identity cards of the suspects and petrol bombs were found in the abandoned car.
Two
of the alleged attackers, who are also brothers, have been identified
as 32-year-old Said Kouachi and 34-year-old Cherif Kouachi. Police said
they are French-born sons of Algerian-born parents.
The
two men, along with another person who is believed to be a teenager,
are thought to have carried out Wednesday’s attack before escaping in a
car.
In
a news conference late on Thursday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
said the younger brother was known French security forces, adding that
he had had links to al-Qaeda in 2004 and 2005.
He added that Said Kouachi had been under security survellience.
BY aljazeera.com