At least 12 people have been killed in a shooting incident at the Paris office

of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, police have confirmed.

Witnesses said that at least two gunmen were involved, and that they were
seen armed with AK-47s and pump-action shotguns. The attackers
themselves are still on the run.
Four of Frances best-known satirical cartoonists, including the magazine's
editor, were among the dead. A further 12 people were injured, some
gravely, in what is the worst terrorist incident in France for 40 years.
Police said that at least 10 of the killings took place in the initial attack
inside the building, or died within minutes because of the seriousness of
their injuries.
As the gunmen left in a black Citron hatchback, they met with a police car
which was part of the permanent protection given to the magazine after it
was firebombed in 2011. The attackers got out of their vehicle and opened
fire, killing two officers.
Video footage posted to social media showed armed gunmen running
through the streets of Paris, shooting with automatic weapons and shouting
"Allahu Akbar". According to an eye-witness, one of the gunmen shouted:
"The Prophet is avenged."
Below is an edited version of one of the videos.
Warning: Viewers may find the following video distressing
Paris has raised its terror alert to the highest setting in the aftermath of the
attack, while a manhunt has begun for those involved. A social media post
from France's AFP news agency reported that the men may also have been
armed with at least one rocket-launcher, though this was not corroborated
by other reports.
France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said police were looking for
"three criminals", though it was not clear how many took part in the
shooting itself. All resources had been mobilised, he said, "to neutralise
those who committed this barbaric act".

A Charlie Hebdo cartoonist who survived the attack described how two
"hooded and armed men" forced her to enter the code letting them into the
magazine's offices.
Corinne "Coco" Rey told the French newspaper L'Humanite that the attack
lasted five minutes. She said the assailants "spoke perfect French" and
"claimed to be from al-Qaeda".
The French President Francois Hollande has travelled to the scene in
Paris's 11th arrondissement after what he called a "terrorist attack of the
most extreme barbarity".
He said it was the latest in a series of terrorist incidents on French soil, and
that the nation was in a state of shock.
"This is a difficult moment for France," Hollande told reporters. "We have
prevented several attacks. We knew that we were still under threat because
we are a country that cherishes freedom."
The urgent priority for officials on Wednesday afternoon remained tracking
down those responsible. Paris police said the gunmen abandoned their car
at the northern Porte de Patin and escaped.
Mr Cazeneuve said the attack had set in motion protective measures across
"all French territories", including bolstered security at houses of worship,
stores, media offices and transportation hubs.
across the French capital closed their doors, while top government officials
held a meeting of the national emergency committee. President Hollande
has scheduled a national TV address to update the public on the situation
later on Wednesday evening.
Police confirmed to French media that the dead included the magazines
editor and chief cartoonist, Stphane Charbonnier, known as "Charb", and
Jean Cabut, or "Cabu", a veteran of several French newspapers and
reportedly the highest paid cartoonist in the world.
According to a journalist at the scene, at least one of the police officers
killed had been assigned to protect Mr Charbonnier personally. In 2013 he
was included on a "most wanted" list published by Inspire, al-Qaeda's
terrorist propaganda magazine.

Two other cartoonists, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac, or

"Tignous", were also reported as having been killed.
Charb had previously defended a controversial series of cartoons depicting
the Prophet Mohammed in 2012, saying: "Muhammad isn't sacred to me. I
don't blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French
law. I don't live under Koranic law."
Charlie Hebdo's editor-in-chief Gerard Biard escaped the carnage because
he was in London.
told France Inter: "I don't understand how people can attack a newspaper
with heavy weapons. A newspaper is not a weapon of war."
Mr Biard said he did not believe the attack was linked to the magazine's
latest front page, which featured novelist Michel Houellebecq. The writer's
new novel "Submission", released in France on Wednesday, has caused
controversy after it was described by critics as an "Islamophobic scare
story".
Yet the magazine had not received any recent threats of violence, Mr Biard
said: "Not to my knowledge, and I don't think anyone had received them as
individuals, because they would have talked about it. There was no
particular tension at the moment."
year earlier, the magazine's offices were firebombed after a spoof issue
featured a caricature of Mohammed on its cover. The edition "invited"
Mohammed to be its guest editor.
According to one report, journalists were discussing a new Islam-themed
edition on Wednesday when the gunmen burst in.
The latest post made by the Charlie Hebdo Twitter account was a picture of
the Isis militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper which sparked protests when it
published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, has increased its
own security in the wake of the Paris shooting, France 24 reported. Charlie
Hebdo re-published the same cartoons in 2006.

One witness to Wednesday's shooting, Gilles Boulanger, who works in the

same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices, likened the scene to a war zone.
He told the BBC: "A neighbour called to warn me that there were armed
men in the building and that we had to shut all the doors.
"And several minutes later there were several shots heard in the building
from automatic weapons firing in all directions.
"So then we looked out of the window and saw the shooting was on
Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, with the police. It was really upsetting. You'd
think it was a war zone."
Another witness, Benoit Bringer, told TV station France Info: "We heard
shouting in the street. We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs enter the
building. We called the police. After a few minutes we heard heavy firing, a
lot of firing. We went upstairs onto the roof.
"After about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out into the street.
Three policemen arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were
armed. There was a lot more shouting in the street, a lot more gunshots.
The attackers took off in a car."
David Cameron led the British response to the unfolding incident,
condemning the attack on Twitter.
"The murders in Paris are sickening," he posted. "We stand with the French
people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press."
Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary, wrote: "Appalled to hear
news of apparent terrorist attack in Paris. My thoughts are with the family
and friends of those killed."
A statement from the White House also condemned the attack "in the
strongest possible terms". "The US stands ready to work closely with the
French," it said.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel called it an "attack on freedom of
speech".

"This abominable act is not only an attack on the lives of French citizens
and their security," a statement read. "It is also an attack on freedom of
speech and the press, core elements of our free democratic culture. In no
way can this be justified."
Pope Francis has also condemned the shooting. The Vatican said it was "a
double act of violence, abominable because it is both an attack against
people as well as against freedom of the press".
In a statement, the French journalists' union Syndicat National des
Journalistes (SNJ) said the attack represented attempts to "silence" the
entire profession.
"The massacre perpetrated against the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo is a
horror that strikes at us all. When journalists are killed, it is done to make
an entire profession feel fear; it is done to silence. Attacking a newspaper is
an attempt to muzzle the freedom of expression that exists in a democracy."

Teenage suspect 'arrested after handing himself into police' over Paris
magazine massacre that left 12 dead - as anti-terror unit raids building in
hunt for two brothers 'trained in Yemen as assassins'

Gunmen identified as Said Kouachi, 34, and brother Cherif, 32, both
from Paris, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, from Reims

Police published pictures of two brothers saying they were 'armed

and dangerous' as Mourad handed himself in

Masked gunmen stormed Paris headquarters with AK-47s shouting

'Allahu akbar!' and 'Prophet has been avenged'

Stalked building asking for people's names before killing the editor,
three cartoonists and the deputy chief editor

Editor Stephane Charbonnier had famously shrugged off threats,

saying: 'I'd rather die standing than live kneeling'

Horrific footage shows a police officer begging for his life before
being shot in the head at point-blank range

Cartoonist Corrine Rey told how she cowered with her young
daughter as she watched two colleagues gunned down

Killers fled in stolen car across eastern Paris after a 'mass shoot-out'
with police officers and remain on the loose

Militants believed to be from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

which was behind plane bomb plots in US and UK

US counter-terror officials said earlier one suspect was killed and

two others in custody, but this was not confirmed

Newspaper had earlier posted a picture of Islamic State leader Abu

Bakr al-Baghdadi on its Twitter account

Publication's offices were firebombed in 2011 for publishing satirical

cartoon of Prophet Mohammed