At least one hostage has been taken at a warehouse in a town northeast of Paris as police moved in to detain the men who killed 12 people at the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, BBC reported Friday.
Shots were fired earlier as the gunmen hijacked a car.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed the operation in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35 km from Paris.
A convoy of police vehicles is heading on the motorway to the scene.
The development comes nearly 48 hours since the attack on the magazine's office, when 12 people were shot dead.
The heavily armed gunmen fled Paris by car after the attack.