Interpol has issued an international wanted notice for a French gangster who authorities say used explosives to escape from prison on Saturday.

Redoine Faid allegedly held five people, including four guards, at gunpoint at a detention centre in northern France then detonated explosives to escape, CNN reported.

Twenty-six European countries have arrest warrants for Faid, who's wanted on charges of armed robbery committed as a member of an organized gang, attempted murder of an on-duty officer of the Gendarmerie Nationale and criminal conspiracy, Interpol states.

He landed behind bars in 1998 and was released after serving more than 10 years of a 20-year sentence, CNN reported. He published an autobiography in 2011 and was arrested again.

Faid's lawyer was due to meet with him to prepare for a trial for a May 2010 attack east of Paris that killed a policewoman.

"He is remarkably intelligent, and he is using his intellect to serve his ambitions," Jean-Louis Pelletier told a CNN affiliate. "(And Faid) cannot stand being imprisoned anymore."