The 18-year-old, Hamyd Mourad, implicated alongside two brothers in the deadly attack at a satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has killed 12 people, has surrendered to police.

“Hamyd Mourad handed himself in to police… on Wednesday at 11:00 pm (0330 IST) after seeing his name circulating on social media,” the source told AFP. “He has been arrested and taken into custody,” another source confirmed.

A member of the media makes images of the front page of Charlie Hebdo which shows a caricature of French author Michel Houellebecq near the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, after a shooting January 7, 2015. (Reuters)

President Francois Hollande said it was a terrorist act “of exceptional barbarism,” adding that other attacks have been thwarted in France in recent weeks. Fears have been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq will stage attacks at home.