A makeshift memorial to victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack, made up of pens, candles and signs, in Paris’ Place de la Republique. Photograph: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
A makeshift memorial to victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack, made up of pens, candles and signs, in Paris’ Place de la Republique. Photograph: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
Two masked gunmen dressed in black and armed with Kalashnikovs entered the offices of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in the 11th arrondissement at 11.30am on Wednesday and opened fire on an editorial meeting. Twelve people were killed in the attack, including eight journalists and two police officers.
Gunmen who attacked the magazine could be heard on video captured at the scene saying “Allahu akbar,” “we’ve killed Charlie Hebdo” and “we’ve avenged the prophet”.
Two eyewitnesses said they claimed to be from al-Qaida. One of them specified al-Qaida in Yemen, a group also known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula
All 12 victims have been identified, and include eight cartoonists or journalists, two Charlie Hebdo staff, and two police officers.
A large manhunt continues for two suspects, Said Kouachi, born in 1980, and Cherif Kouachi, born in 1982, both from Paris. The pair fled the scene in a car, before hijacking another. Security has been increased across Paris.
A third suspect, 18-year old Hamyd Mourad, handed himself in to police after seeing his name published but reportedly claimed his innocence, saying he had been at school all day.
There have been several arrests overnight, the French prime minister, Manel Valls, has said.
Thousands of people across the world have gathered at vigils for the victims and their loved ones.
The UK’s emergency security committee, Cobra, will meet in response to the attack.
World leaders have condemned the attack. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said it was a “direct assault on democracy, media and freedom of expression”.
Some more pcitures from Melbourne where about 1000 people have gathered at a vigil and signed a book of condolence arranged by an Australian media union, the Media Alliance.
After the minute’s silence some cries from the crowd in French such as ‘Nous sommes Charlie!’
About 1000 people gathered in Melbourne at a vigil for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Photograph: Paul Chadwick/Guardian
People sign a book of condolence in Melbourne where about 1000 people gathered at a vigil for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Photograph: Paul Chadwick/Guardian Australia
There were “several arrests” overnight as police hunted the two suspects, the French prime minister Manuel Valls has said.
AP reports that in an interview with RTL radio Thursday, Valls said preventing another attack “is our main concern,” as he explained why authorities released photos of the two men along with a plea for witnesses to come forward.
The brutal shootings triggered a wave of solidarity, with rallies in defence of free speech in more than 30 French cities and in global capitals.
President François Hollande has declared a day of national mourning for Thursday with flags at half-mast for three days, saying the country had been “struck at its very heart”.
But he vowed: “Freedom will always be stronger than barbarism.”
World leaders also pledged they would not be cowed, but the longer-term impact on free expression was unclear in the wake of a mass killing of such brutality.
The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo lampoons Islamophobia, not Islam, writes Elaine Teng in the New Republic.
The issue and cover image ridicules French author Michel Houellebecq and his new book, Submission, which reportedly imagines a France in 2022 under an Islamic government.
From the New Republic:
One of the great ironies of the attack was that it occurred on the same day that Submission and the issue of Charlie Hebdo making fun of it hit French bookstores. What happened to Charlie Hebdo was a horrific attack by radical Islamists seeking to silence the publication. But as the conversation moves forward, it’s important to remember that the editors and cartoonists ofCharlie Hebdo weren’t just fighting Islamic fundamentalism, but other forms of intolerant and dogmatic thinking as well.”
The Australian partner of one of the Charlie Hebdo staff members currently receiving medical treatment for a gunshot wound has spoken to Fairfax media.
Maisie Dubosarsky, 27, had been emailing her boyfriend, Simon Fieschi, 31, just minutes before the attack. Fieschi was shot in the shoulder, according to Fairfax, and is being kept in an induced coma.
“He liked to say that his job was to troll people,” Dubosarsky told Fairfax. “They’re very cool people [at Charlie Hebdo] and they tell people to get lost.
“They got threats all the time but … none of them thought that their lives were under threat. They were out in public all the time.”
Earlier I shared with you some of the many opinion and analysis pieces which had been prompted by the attacks.
One that is causing some controversy is from radical UK cleric Anjem Choudary, who essentially says the French government placed people at risk by allowing Charlie Hebdo to publish cartoons which “provoke” Muslims. Choudary calls for the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad to be protected.
