French police launches operation in south of Strasbourg

Dozens of French police, including members of the elite RAID force, cordoned off an area of southern Strasbourg on Thursday where a gunman who attacked the city's Christmas market was last seen, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

There was no confirmation that the operation was linked to the shooting on Tuesday night in the eastern French city that left three people dead and 13 injured, according to the latest toll.

Police blocked several streets in the Neudorf district, a short drive from the Strasbourg city centre, where suspected gunman Cherif Chekatt exchanged fire with officers on Tuesday night after getting out of a taxi.

More than 700 French security forces have been trying to trace Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday when he is suspected of shooting and stabbing shoppers at the city's popular annual market.

(With inputs from agencies.)