Paris police in 'hostage taking' standoff with armed man

Dozens of police officers converged in an area of central Paris today in response to a "hostage taking" situation by an armed man, police sources said.

The man is "armed and holding at least two people," a source told AFP, adding that "the situation is quite confused" but did not appear to be terrorism-related.

France has been on high alert after a series of jihadist attacks in the past three years, most recently a Saturday night knife attack by a man in Paris last month in which one person was killed.