Sixteen people have been arrested in connection with the Kim Kardashian armed robbery in Paris last year following the discovery of DNA at the scene, according to reports.

The socialite and reality TV star, 36, was held at gunpoint and robbed of jewellery worth several million dollars by five masked men inside a private residence in Paris in October.

The oldest suspect in the arrests, which come as Kardashian spoke out about the Paris heist, saying she thought she was going to be shot in the back, is reported to be 72, with others believed to be in their 50s.

Kardashian broke her silence on the robbery in a trailer for an upcoming series of the family's reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, saying she feared she was going to be shot in the back.

She was seen telling her sisters Khloe and Kourtney she thought "they're going to shoot me in the back. There's no way out" and she added: "It makes me so upset to think about it."

The mother-of-two was locked up in a bathroom in a private residence in Paris and tied up by armed robbers, thought to have been dressed as police officers.

They are believed to have stolen jewellery worth 10 million dollars during the incident, which took place as Kardashian was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week.

The star suffered more turmoil the following month when her rapper husband Kanye West was taken to hospital in Los Angeles for sleep deprivation and exhaustion, after abruptly cancelling his US Saint Pablo tour.

Police swooped in the Paris region and the south of France following the discovery of DNA at the luxury Paris residence where Kardashian was tied up and robbed of jewellery worth around nine million euro (9.5 million dollars) in October, one source said.