French police authorities have reportedly arrested the suspect for the recent shocking murders of three children, a rabbi and three soldiers.

Officials have not confirmed the arrest and it is unclear how he was detained, BBC informs.

It was reported earlier on Wednesday that Mohammed Merah, 24, would surrender. Approximately 300 police officers surrounded his apartment in Toulouse.

Three policemen were wounded in the police raid.

According to French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, the suspect claims to be a jihadist and says he belongs to Al Qaeda. He allegedly wanted to avenge the Palestinian children and take revenge on the French army because of its foreign interventions.

A paratrooper out of uniform was recently shot dead in a residential area of Toulouse, while two soldiers were killed and a third wounded as they used a cash machine in the nearby town of Montauban Thursday. All three - of North African and Caribbean origin - were shot by a man on a scooter.

The latest incident occurred Monday morning at the Ozar Hatorah jewish school in Toulouse, after a gunman opened fire on people waiting at a school drop-off point and then fled on a motorbike, killing a 30-years old teacher and three children aged 6, 3 and 10.

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