German police arrest three in hunt for Paris suspects

"We have received indications that one of the fugitives connected to Paris is possibly in our area," says police

BERLIN: German police hunting for suspects in the Paris attacks said Tuesday they had arrested one man and two women near the Belgian border but could not confirm a link with the carnage.

"I can confirm the arrests of three people" of foreign nationalities, Aachen city police spokesperson Werner Schneider told news channel NTV, adding "they could be connected with the Paris attacks".

He cautioned, however, that "either these indications will be confirmed or it could all go up into thin air", and that the identities of the three were yet to be established.

National news agency DPA earlier quoted an Aachen police spokesperson as saying: "We have received indications that one of the fugitives connected to Paris is possibly in our area."

The carnage in Paris

The three suspects were being questioned, and the investigation was ongoing, after a special police unit arrested them in the morning outside a local jobcentre, he said.

The local daily Aachener Zeitung said police had arrested the three and led them off in handcuffs in the town of Alsdorf, near Aachen.

European police forces are searching especially for Salah Abdeslam, 26, who was named by French police as a key suspect in the Paris attacks in which 129 people were killed.