Detectives investigating the brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby arrested three further men tonight on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

Two men aged 24 and 28 were arrested at a residential address in south east London while a 21-year-old man was arrested in the street in Charlton Lane, Charlton.

Police from the Counter Terrorism Command supported by specialist firearms officers used Tasers to detain two of them.

The arrests came as authorities in France investigated whether the killing was linked to an attack on a French soldier who was stabbed in the neck in a busy shopping area outside Paris today.

The two men suspected of murdering Drummer Rigby, 25, in Woolwich remain in hospital after being shot by police when they charged towards armed officers on Wednesday, while a 29-year-old man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder has now been released on bail, police confirmed tonight.

Police were also executing search warrants at four residential addresses in south east London tonight.

The three men were all arrested between 6pm and 6.30pm and were being taken to a south London police station.

Tasers were used on the 21 and 28-year-old with neither needing hospital treatment.

The two men suspected of murdering Drummer Rigby, who have been identified as Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, 22, remain in a stable condition in hospital, police added.

Outside Paris, the soldier was stabbed in the throat in the French commercial district of La Defense. However, there was no immediate confirmation of any link to the Woolwich attack.

Military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said the French soldier was wounded but that his life was not in danger. He had no immediate further details on the stabbing.

French authorities are investigating any possible links with the Woolwich attack but president Francois Hollande said the identity of the attacker was unknown and cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the assault on the uniformed 23-year-old soldier.

"There could be a link, but we will look at all the elements," Mr Hollande said during a news conference in Ethiopia, where he was travelling.