French elite forces were called this afternoon at a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse where a man seized four people. Reportedly linked to the al-Qaeda, the man demanded to speak to the elite Raid police unit that shot islamist gunman Mohamed Merah, back in March. Though he first demanded money, the officials however reported that he freed two hostages. There are no reports of injuries in the incident so far.

Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent, killed seven people in three separate attacks. His victims included three children and a teacher at a Jewish school, and three soldiers. Merah filmed his attacks and sent the footage to police. He was shot dead by a police sniper on 22 March after commandos stormed his flat.

According to BBC News, Merah was suspected to have had an accomplice within the Muslim community.

On 7 June, a man armed with a shotgun took hostage a security guard at the French weather service, Meteo France. The hostage-taker fired several shots and was seriously injured when police returned fire. During that incident, his hostage was uninjured.