12 people killed in Paris shooting

(Agencies) Updated: 2015-01-07 19:39

Latest:

One of the suspects in the Paris attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine has been killed and two others are in custody, claimed NBC News.

Authorities identified the three men as Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, both French and in their early 30s, and 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn't immediately clear.

Twelve people including two police officers were killed in the attack on Wednesday.

Rection：

- China strongly condemns Paris attack

- World leaders condemn press office attack in Paris

- France to mourn the victims tomorrow, flags at half-mast

- French President Francois Hollande: This is a terrorist attack - there is no doubt about it.

- Mayor of Paris: I feel a sense of absolute horror - BBC

On the scene:

- 11 people injured, four in serious situation

- Newspaper had lampooned Muslim figures, Prophet Mohammad

- Worst militant attack on French soil in decades

- Sources at the weekly said the dead included co-founder Jean "Cabu" Cabut and editor-in-chief Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier.

- Major police operation underway in Paris - BBC

Bruno Leveillé, who lives near the scene of the attack in Paris's 11th arrondissement , tells AFP he heard "at 11:30am exactly, around 30 gunfire shots over about 10 minutes."

Charlie Hebdo's lawyer says the magazine's publishing director in the attack - Al Jazeera English

It was press day at the magazine so all important staff were there. Now 10 assassinated along with 2 police officers - the Guardian

Source: FRANCETVINFO

A spokesman for US President Barack Obama has condemned the shooting, saying all of the White House is in solidarity with the families of those killed and injured in the attack - White House

Gunmen believed to be on the loose after attack - CNN

Attackers at Paris newspaper shouted 'we have avenged the prophet'- AFP

Gunmen kill 12 in attack on Paris weekly

At least 12 people were shot dead by black-hooded gunmen at the Paris offices of a satirical weekly on Wednesday, police said.

The attack on the publication Charlie Hebdo claimed the lives of some of the best-known cartoonists in France, a judicial source said.

Editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, and the cartoonists known as Cabu, Tignous and Wolinski were killed.

The weekly had been fire-bombed in the past after publishing cartoons lampooning Muslim leaders and the Prophet Muhammad.

French President Francois Hollande headed to the scene of the attack, and the government said it was raising France 's security to the highest level.

"This is a terrorist attack -there is no doubt about it, " Hollande told reporters.

Another 10 people were injured in the attack, and police union official Rocco Contento described the scene inside the offices as "carnage ".

Witness Benoit Bringer told a TV station: "About a half-hour ago, two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (automatic rifles). A few minutes later, we heard lots of shots. "

Bringer added that the men were then seen fleeing the building.

France was on high alert after calls last year from Islamist militants to attack its citizens in reprisal for French military strikes against Islamist strongholds in the Middle East and Africa.

US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin condemned the shooting.

Late last year, a man shouting "Allahu akbar " ( "God is greatest ") injured 13 people by ramming a vehicle into a crowd in the French city of Dijon. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said at the time that France had "never before faced such a high threat linked to terrorism ".

Charlie Hebdo gained notoriety in February 2006 when it reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that had appeared originally in the Danish daily Jyllands Posten, causing fury across the Muslim world.

Its offices were firebombed in November 2011 when the weekly published a cartoon of the prophet.

Despite being taken to court under antiracism laws, the weekly continued to publish controversial cartoons of the Muslim prophet.

In September 2012, Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of a naked Muhammad as violent protests took place in several countries over a low-budget film, Innocence of Muslims, which was made in the United States and insulted the prophet.

A view shows policemen and rescue members at the scene after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, January 7, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

French cartoonist Charb, publishing director of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, poses for photographs at their offices in Paris, in this September 19, 2012 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Policemen work at the scene after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, January 7, 2015.[Photo/Agencies]

A bullet's impact is seen on a window at the scene after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, January 7, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Newspaper offices, shopping centres, museums and stations have been placed under police protection, according to sources in the French government - the Guardian

Firefighters carry a victim on a stretcher at the scene after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, January 7, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]