PARIS: Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a satirical magazine known for lampooning Islam and other religions yesterday, killing at least 12 people in the most deadly militant attack on French soil in decades.
Police staged a huge manhunt for the attackers who escaped after shooting dead some of France’s top cartoonists at the Charlie Hebdo weekly, as well as two police officers. One of the assailants was captured on video outside the building shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest) as shots rang out. Another walked over to a police officer lying wounded on the street and shot him point-blank with an assault rifle, before the two calmly climbed into a black car and drove off.
A police union official said the assailants, three in total, remained at liberty and there were fears of further attacks. The official described the scene in the offices as carnage, with a further four wounded fighting for their lives.
Tens of thousands joined impromptu rallies across France in memory of the victims and support for freedom of expression. The government declared the highest state of alert, tightening security at transport hubs, religious sites, media offices and department stores as the search for the assailants got under way.
Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) is well known for courting controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders of all faiths and has published numerous cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Jihadists online repeatedly warned that the magazine would pay for its ridicule.
There was no claim of responsibility. However a witness quoted by 20 Minutes daily newspaper said one of the assailants cried out before getting into his car: “Tell the media that it is Al Qaeda in Yemen!” Supporters of Islamic State and other jihadist groups hailed the attack on Internet sites.
Governments throughout Europe have expressed fear that fighters returning from Iraq or Syria could launch attacks in their home countries and may now review their own security.
“Today the French Republic as a whole was the target,” President Francois Hollande said in a prime-time evening TV address, declaring a national day of mourning today. An amateur video broadcast by French television stations shows two hooded men all in black outside the building.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the assailants killed a man at the entrance of the building to force entry. They then headed to the second floor and opened fire on an editorial meeting attended by eight journalists, a policeman tasked with protecting the magazine’s editorial director and a guest. The dead included co-founder Jean “Cabu” Cabut and editor-in-chief Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier.
Reuters
