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 center, 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.