Arrests as French police step up hunt for accomplices of Paris attackers

A soldier patrols outside the French National Assembly in Paris (AP)

A board reads "We are not Afraid" at the Place de la Republique, in Paris (AP)

Francois Hollande was at the football friendly between France and Germany at the Stade de France stadium. (AP)

A soldier patrols outside the French National Assembly in Paris (AP)

A board reads "We are not Afraid" at the Place de la Republique, in Paris (AP)

Francois Hollande was at the football friendly between France and Germany at the Stade de France stadium. (AP)

A soldier patrols outside the French National Assembly in Paris (AP)

November 14 2015 08:56 AM

Members of the family of one of the Paris terror attackers have been detained, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre declined to reveal who was detained but said there were searches under way. The attacker was a Frenchman born in the Paris suburbs.

The arrests came as the authorities stepped up their hunt for accomplices of the extremists responsible for a gun and bomb rampage targeting the vibrant cafes, bars and clubs of Paris that killed 129 people.

French president Francois Hollande vowed that France will wage "merciless" war on the Islamic State group, after the jihadists claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Grief, alarm and resolve spread across Europe as officials raced to piece together information on the attackers.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said three groups of attackers, including seven suicide bombers, carried out the "act of barbarism" that shattered a Parisian Friday night.

A Syrian passport found near the body of one was linked to a man who entered the European Union through a Greek island last month.

Mr Molins said as well as the 129 people who were killed, 352 people were injured, with 99 in a critical condition.