Seven Detained in France over Charlie Hebdo Attack

French police stand guard outside a building while forensic police (not pictured) look for evidence relating to the three suspects of the attack, in an apartment located in the Croix Rouge neigborhood in Reims, late January 07.

A total of 7 people have been arrested during the huge-scale special operation overnight aimed at hunting down the two men suspected of killing 12 people in French weekly Charlie Hebdo's offices.

France's Foreign Ministry has confirmed the information.

Other French officials say relatives or affiliates of the two brothers Kouachi, who are thought to have committed the attack, are being interrogated by police. They were arrested in the towns of Reims and Charleville-Mezieres, according to France24.

Manuel Valls, the country's Prime Minister, has told Radio RTL the suspects are well-known by police.

Thursday is a day of national mourning in France, with flags across the country lowered half-mast and a minute's silence to be observed at noon.

A number of officials in France and worldwide have described the attack as a brutal infringement on freedom of speech.

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