Twitter users have posted the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag, a sign of solidarity with the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, more than five million times, Twitter France says.

The symbolic five-million mark, an unprecedented number in the history of France-related hashtags, was reached after elite forces killed the brothers suspected of the massacre and a jihadist ally in a dramatic finale to three blood-soaked days.

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The hashtag had been tweeted 5,044,740 times late on Friday, with a peak of 6300 tweets per minute.

On Friday the heavily-armed Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects were cornered in a tiny town northeast of Paris while an ally took terrified shoppers hostage in a Jewish supermarket, where four died and seven were hurt including three police officers.

The Charlie Hebdo gunmen had kept France gripped with fear since they slaughtered 12 people on Wednesday in the offices of the satirical magazine.