PARIS NIGHTMARE: Gunman arrested after taking hostages

A MAN who was holed up in a post office in a suburb northwest of Paris with two hostages has surrendered and has been arrested, a police source said.

"There was no assault, the man gave himself up”, the source said, adding that the hostages were "shocked but not injured”.

Earlier, police there did not appear to be any link to extremist attacks.

Police sources said several post office clients had managed to escape before the man was apprehended, and that the gunman had called them.

The sources said he was "speaking incoherently” and was heavily armed with grenades and Kalashnikovs.

Hostage drama ... French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) policemen officers prepare near the post office where an armed man is holed up with two hostages in Colombes. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Prepared ... French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) policemen officers near the post office. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Geared up ... French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) policemen officers. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The hostage-taker "is disappointed in love”, local prefecture told Liberation newspaper, in remarks translated by RT.

The hostage taker was reported to be a customer "who lost his head” and speaks of "heartbreak.”

The gunman is known to police as a petty crime suspect, RT said.

At the scene ... French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) near the post office. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The area around the post office in Colombes, a city northwest of Paris, had been cordoned off, with a helicopter flying overhead and elite security forces on the ground.

Pictures posted online show police vehicles surrounding the building.

Holding fire ... French policemen stand near the post office where an armed man holed up with two hostages remains. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The incident came after 19,000 French websites were hacked by some well-known Islamic hacker groups.

The Gare de l"Est train station was also closed and evacuated after a bomb threat, as authorities try to prevent new violence after the worst terrorist attacks in decades.

A police official says the station was closed "as a precaution”.

The French capital is still jittery after a series of attacks last week by Islamist gunmen left 17 people dead.