Cherif and Said Kouachi: Charlie Hebdo suspects spotted in a car in northern France

Cherif and Said Kouachi had been spotted on Thursday, January 8, in a car on a road in the Aisne region of northern France, sources close to the investigation told AFP.

The two brothers are suspected of killing 12 people at the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7.

Cherif and Said Kouachi were reportedly recognized by the manager of a service station near the town of Villers-Cotteret, and still armed.

Arrest warrants were issued for Cherif and Said Kouachi, said to be “armed and dangerous”.

A third suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad handed himself in to police in Charleville-Mezieres. He reportedly surrendered after hearing his name on the news.

Cherif Kouachi, 32, was sentenced in 2008 to three years in prison for belonging to a Paris-based group sending jihadist fighters to Iraq.

Overnight, seven people believed to be connected to the two main suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack were detained in the towns of Reims and Charleville-Mezieres, as well as in the Paris area.