Said Kouachi, one of the gunmen who attacked the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, has been quietly buried, officials say.

After an initial refusal, the mayor of the city Reims said he was forced to backtrack and allow the burial.

Arnaud Robinet said the government had insisted he allow the elder Kouachi brother to be buried in Reims because French law gives residents of a town or city the right to be buried there.

"He was buried last night, in the most discreet, anonymous way possible," Mr Robinet said in an interview on French television channel BFM TV.

Mr Robinet said he did not know where Kouachi was buried in the cemetery, which he did not identify.

Kouachi and his brother Cherif were killed by French counter-terrorism police on January 9 after they killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Cherif Kouachi is to be buried in Gennevilliers, a suburb of Paris where he lived, the city said in a statement.

Authorities said a third gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, killed five people including four hostages at a kosher market in Paris before he was killed by police. There has been no word of plans for his burial.