Authorities have launched an intense manhunt for two brothers who are the main suspects in the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after a police helicopter spotted the suspects in a wooded area near Crepy-en-Valois, France.

More helicopters, equipped with night vision tools, have been deployed to a wooded area to look for Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Said Kouachi, 34, whom police said entered a wooded area in the village of Longpont on foot.

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Aside from helicopters, heavily armed officers are also hot on the trial of the two brothers, combing the countryside and flooding the Picardy region after an attendant at a gas station said the two suspects threatened to kill him.

The attendant said the two alleged killers threatened him near Villers-Cotterest in Picardy, stole gas and food and drove off.

The report prompted the police to block a rural country road, about 10 kilometers from the gas station, leading to Longpont hoping to finally nail the suspects in the killing of 12 persons at the satirical magazine's Paris headquarters.

The Picardy region has also been placed on the highest alert as more policemen were deployed in the area. A convoy of 30 to 40 police vehicles was seen leaving a site near Longpont hours after the incident involving the gas station attendant.

The two brothers were identified based on evidences found inside a getaway car they left behind. Said Kouachi's ID was found inside the car. Hamyd Mourad, 18, a third suspect in the terror attack, surrendered to the police hours after the killing.

As this developed, a US law enforcement official has confirmed that the Kouachi brothers were in the US database of suspected international terrorists and had been on the no-fly list for years.

While there was no group has claimed responsibility of the attack, an ISIS radio broadcast praised the attackers and called them brave jihadists.

TagsCharlie Hebdo, Paris Attack