Charlie Hebdo attack: Two missing suspects robbed gas station, says local media

Paris: Two armed suspects in Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris have been 'located' in north France on Thursday and are speeding towards Paris chased by the police, French media reported.

The manager of a petrol station near Villers-Cotteret in the northern Aisne region "recognised the two men suspected of having participated in the attack against Charlie Hebdo", the source said.

Local television reported that the men were also suspected to have robbed a petrol station, about an hour out from Paris.

All city gates have reportedly been closed by the police, which has fanned out across the country in a massive manhunt for the killers.

The two are suspected to be Cherif Kouachi, 32, a known jihadist convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq, and his 34-year-old brother Said. Both were born in Paris.

Read: Suspects in Charlie Hebdo attack well-known to anti-terror police

One of the three attackers had turned himself in to the police this morning.

French special operations forces deployed on Thursday in a northern town where two brothers are believed to be located, a police source said.

RAID, the anti-terrorist unit of the French police force, and the GIGN, a paramilitary special operations unit, deployed in Villers-Cotterets in the northern Aisne region "where a car was abandoned after being used by the two suspects, who were identified by a witness," the source said.

The attackers had stormed the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, killing 12 people and shouted "we have avenged the prophet", according to witnesses cited by a police source.

Read: Youngest suspect surrenders in Charlie Hebdo attack, police release photos of 2 others

The French satirical newspaper whose staff was decimated in the attack by two gunmen will come out as scheduled next week, one of its surviving editorialists told AFP on Thursday.

The publication, for next Wednesday, is to defiantly show that "stupidity will not win," Patrick Pelloux said, adding that the remaining staff will soon meet.

France's main Islamic groups urged Muslims across the country to observe a minute of silence on Thursday and for imams to condemn terrorism in the wake of the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

Read: Paris attack France's deadliest in decades

The groups called on "Muslim citizens of France to observe a minute of silence today at midday (1100 GMT), along with the rest of the nation, in memory of the victims of terrorism."

The appeal -- issued by Muslim assemblies from across France -- also called on imams at Friday prayers to "condemn the violence and the terrorism with maximum firmness."

Muslim citizens were also asked to join "in massive numbers" a national day of solidarity on Sunday where demonstrators are expected to take to the streets of towns across France.

Read: Charlie Hebdo will come out next week, despite bloodbath

French investigators found a dozen Molotov cocktails and two jihadist flags in the getaway car used in the massacre at a Paris magazine, a source close to the case said.

"This shows their Islamist radicalisation and that they had possibly planned other acts with the petrol bombs," the source said. The items were found in the abandoned black Citroen used by the attackers to speed away from the offices of the Charlie Hebdo weekly after they gunned down 12 people.

In a video of the attack filmed by a man taking refuge on a nearby rooftop, the men can be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) between rounds of heavy arms fire.

The attackers had hijacked a car and sped off, running over a pedestrian and shooting at officers.

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