French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) policemen officers prepare near the post office where an armed man holed up with two hostages, on Jan. 16, 2015 in Colombes, outside Paris.

An armed man is holding two hostages in a post office outside Paris on Friday, police said, but it is not clear if the incident is linked to last week’s terrorist attacks in the French capital.

Police cordoned off the area in Colombes, a city northwest of Paris, and a helicopter was flying overhead, Agence France-Presse reported.

French Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) policemen officers prepare near the post office where an armed man is holed up with two hostages, on Jan. 16, 2015 in Colombes.

Police sources said several post office clients had managed to escape and that the gunman himself had called them. The sources said he was “speaking incoherently” and was heavily armed with grenades and Kalashnikovs.

“I cannot confirm or deny whether it is linked to terrorism,” an official was quoted by Reuters, declining to give further details.

Picture taken of the post office where an armed man is holed up with two hostages, on January 16, 2015 in Colombes, outside Paris.

BFM TV, citing an unidentified source, said the hostage taking was not related to last week’s attacks in Paris.

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

French police arrested 12 people earlier on Friday suspected of helping militant Islamist gunmen in last week’s killings in Paris. There have been numerous false alerts across the city since the attacks.

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