Two suspects in the deadly Charlie Hebdo massacre might have been spotted near the small town of Villers-Cotterets, an hour northeast of Paris, with security forces steadfastly continuing to search the area on Thursday morning.
Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi were allegedly witnessed stealing gas and food from a gas station near Villers-Cotterets, in the northern Aisne region, on Thursday, the Agence France-Presse reported. The two assailants, both resembling the Charlie Hebdo suspects, fled in the direction of Paris in a Renault Clio which had weapons on its back seat and its license plates covered.
A heavy police presence, including helicopters, could be seen Thursday afternoon in Crepy-en-Valois, 10 miles from the gas station that was robbed.
The latest sighting comes after France experienced deadly overnight attacks on two mosques, a police officer being fatally shot and authorities continuing their manhunt for the two brothers who shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") while carrying out Wednesday's attack at the office of French satirical magazine, leaving 12 people dead, including the outspoken editor and two policemen, Yahoo News reported.
Earlier on Thursday, 18-year-old Mourad Hamyd surrendered at a police station in a small town in the eastern region after learning on social media that his name was linked to the attacks, said Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre. However she failed to specify the suspect's relationship with the Kouachi brothers.
The brothers, French citizens in their early 30's, were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network and should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a police bulletin released early Thursday.
Cherif Kouachi, a jihadist convicted in 2008, was already known to French intelligence services due to his history of funneling jihadi fighters to Iraq. While being sentenced to 18 months in prison for terrorism charges in 2008, Cherif had said he was outraged at the torture of Iraqi inmates at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib near Baghdad.
As more than 100,000 poured onto the streets of France in demonstrations of solidarity, multiple media outlets made contradictory reports, according to CBS News. While TV channel France 24 claimed four people were being held, with least two of them being relatives of the suspects, there were other reports stating that seven people were detained.
Additionally, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there were "several arrests" overnight.
As fear spread in France, several other incidents rocked the jittery nation, although it was not clear whether they were linked to Wednesday's attack.
A gunman shot dead a policewoman and wounded a city employee with an automatic rifle just to the south of Paris and there was an explosion at a kebab shop in eastern France, with no casualties immediately reported.
Two Muslim places of worship were also fired at, prosecutors said.
In France's deadliest terrorist attack in half a century on Wednesday, masked gunmen walked into the headquarters of the satirical magazine and opened fire in the entrance hallway, killing people as they saw them. They reportedly sought out members of the newspaper's staff by name during the rampage through the 2nd floor office, which lasted between five and 10 minutes, according to witnesses.
Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, said prosecutor Francois Molins, adding that 11 people were wounded, four of them seriously, according to Fox News.
"They knew exactly what they had to do and exactly where to shoot. While one kept watch and checked that the traffic was good for them, the other one delivered the final coup de grace," said the witness.
"Hey! We avenged the Prophet Muhammad! We killed Charlie Hebdo," one of the men shouted in French, according to video shot from a nearby building.
Meanwhile, President Francois Hollande declared Thursday a national day of mourning, only the fifth in the last 50 years.
