This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/paris-terror-attack-huge-manhunt-under-way
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Paris terror attack: huge manhunt under way after gunmen kill 12 | Paris terror attack: huge manhunt under way after gunmen kill 12 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A huge manhunt is under way in Paris for three masked and hooded men armed with a Kalashnikov and a shotgun who stormed the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people – including two policemen – before escaping in a car. | A huge manhunt is under way in Paris for three masked and hooded men armed with a Kalashnikov and a shotgun who stormed the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people – including two policemen – before escaping in a car. |
| Visiting the scene of the country’s worst atrocity in decades, the French president, François Hollande, described it as “a terrorist attack, without a doubt”. Hollande said the assault, which happened at about 11.30am on Wednesday after the magazine’s staff had gathered for their weekly editorial meeting, was “an act of exceptional barbarism”. | Visiting the scene of the country’s worst atrocity in decades, the French president, François Hollande, described it as “a terrorist attack, without a doubt”. Hollande said the assault, which happened at about 11.30am on Wednesday after the magazine’s staff had gathered for their weekly editorial meeting, was “an act of exceptional barbarism”. |
| Warning that several other attacks had been foiled in recent weeks, the president called for national unity and convened an emergency cabinet meeting. The French government raised the terror alert level in the greater Paris region to the highest level possible. | Warning that several other attacks had been foiled in recent weeks, the president called for national unity and convened an emergency cabinet meeting. The French government raised the terror alert level in the greater Paris region to the highest level possible. |
| Five of the victims have been named, including four Charlie Hebdo journalists: editor Stéphane Charbonnier and cartoonists Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac. AFP reported that Bernard Maris, an economist and writer who contributed to the magazine, was also killed. | Five of the victims have been named, including four Charlie Hebdo journalists: editor Stéphane Charbonnier and cartoonists Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac. AFP reported that Bernard Maris, an economist and writer who contributed to the magazine, was also killed. |
| #CharlieHebdo: Charb, Wolinski, Cabu et Tignous sont morts http://t.co/CdynLOg8r0 #AFP pic.twitter.com/YgiVHEeVQa | #CharlieHebdo: Charb, Wolinski, Cabu et Tignous sont morts http://t.co/CdynLOg8r0 #AFP pic.twitter.com/YgiVHEeVQa |
| The attack comes amid mounting tension about immigration in France and what many non-Muslim French see as rising Islamic influence in society. | The attack comes amid mounting tension about immigration in France and what many non-Muslim French see as rising Islamic influence in society. |
| Cherlie Hebdo’s cover story this week featured Michel Houellebecq, the controversial author whose latest book Soumission, or Submission, portrays France in 2022 run by a Muslim president, according to the laws of conservative Islam. | Cherlie Hebdo’s cover story this week featured Michel Houellebecq, the controversial author whose latest book Soumission, or Submission, portrays France in 2022 run by a Muslim president, according to the laws of conservative Islam. |
| The Islamic State extremist group has previously warned it intends to attack France, and in what appeared to be its last tweet before the attack, Charlie Hebdo staff posted a satirical cartoon of the group’s leader giving his New Year’s best wishes. The magazine has itself frequently been criticised – and prosecuted under anti-racism laws – for publishing cartoons of the Muhammad. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after it published a spoof cover featuring a cartoon of the Muslim prophet. | The Islamic State extremist group has previously warned it intends to attack France, and in what appeared to be its last tweet before the attack, Charlie Hebdo staff posted a satirical cartoon of the group’s leader giving his New Year’s best wishes. The magazine has itself frequently been criticised – and prosecuted under anti-racism laws – for publishing cartoons of the Muhammad. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after it published a spoof cover featuring a cartoon of the Muslim prophet. |
| A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, confirmed that 12 people had been killed in the attack. Police said three attackers were involved, two who entered the building and a third who drove a car to the scene, in rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement in eastern Paris. The gunmen escaped in the car before abandoning it in the 19th arrondissement, where they hijacked another car, ordering the motorist out. | A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, confirmed that 12 people had been killed in the attack. Police said three attackers were involved, two who entered the building and a third who drove a car to the scene, in rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement in eastern Paris. The gunmen escaped in the car before abandoning it in the 19th arrondissement, where they hijacked another car, ordering the motorist out. |
| Cries of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) were heard during the attack, witnesses said. | Cries of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) were heard during the attack, witnesses said. |
| “We heard shouting in the street,” Benoît Bringer, who works at a press agency on the same floor as the magazine’s offices, told France Info radio. “We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs entering the building. We called the police. After a few minutes we heard heavy firing – a lot of firing, a hell of a lot. We went upstairs to take shelter on the roof. Then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out on to the street. There was more shouting, more firing. | “We heard shouting in the street,” Benoît Bringer, who works at a press agency on the same floor as the magazine’s offices, told France Info radio. “We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs entering the building. We called the police. After a few minutes we heard heavy firing – a lot of firing, a hell of a lot. We went upstairs to take shelter on the roof. Then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out on to the street. There was more shouting, more firing. |
| “Three policemen had arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously … Then the attackers took off in a car.” | “Three policemen had arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously … Then the attackers took off in a car.” |
| Another, unnamed witness from an office across the corridor said she and her colleagues had heard “a huge boom”. “Then someone opened the door to our office and asked where Charlie Hebdo was. He had a rifle. We backed away. Afterwards he left, we heard gunfire. We went to the windows, there were two men running with guns, speaking in bad French … They were shouting outside, and shooting again. Afterwards I saw someone leaving the building with his hands covered in blood.” | Another, unnamed witness from an office across the corridor said she and her colleagues had heard “a huge boom”. “Then someone opened the door to our office and asked where Charlie Hebdo was. He had a rifle. We backed away. Afterwards he left, we heard gunfire. We went to the windows, there were two men running with guns, speaking in bad French … They were shouting outside, and shooting again. Afterwards I saw someone leaving the building with his hands covered in blood.” |
| One neighbour saw paramedics trying to save an injured police officer on the road outside her office. | |
| “It was ghastly, awful,” she said. “We knew it was serious because they weren’t even trying to take him away to hospital. They were just trying to save him right there in the street. | |
| “We are all in shock”. | |
| Television footage showed the surrounding streets jammed with police and emergency service vehicles, while tweeted pictures from people at the scene showed police cars riddled with bullets and people being carried away on stretchers. | Television footage showed the surrounding streets jammed with police and emergency service vehicles, while tweeted pictures from people at the scene showed police cars riddled with bullets and people being carried away on stretchers. |
| A police spokesman, Rocco Contente, said the men “appeared to have opened fire on everyone. It was carnage, absolute butchery. The men emerged soon after … There was a shootout with colleagues from the police. A policemen from the 11th arrondissement was seriously injured; he may die.” | |
| World leaders united to condemn the atrocity. David Cameron, the UK prime minister, called the attack “sickening”, and said: “We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press.” Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said in a statement it was a an “abominable act” that was also “an attack on freedom of speech and the press, core elements of our free democratic culture”. | World leaders united to condemn the atrocity. David Cameron, the UK prime minister, called the attack “sickening”, and said: “We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press.” Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said in a statement it was a an “abominable act” that was also “an attack on freedom of speech and the press, core elements of our free democratic culture”. |
| Barack Obama said he strongly condemned the attack, adding: “France is America’s oldest ally, and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight against terrorists who threaten our shared security and the world.” | |
| Charlie Hebdo gained international notoriety in 2006 when it reprinted cartons of the prophet Muhammad originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, prompting uproar across the Muslim world. In September 2012, it published cartoons of the prophet naked, at a time of violent protests in several Muslim countries over the film Innocence of Muslims. | Charlie Hebdo gained international notoriety in 2006 when it reprinted cartons of the prophet Muhammad originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, prompting uproar across the Muslim world. In September 2012, it published cartoons of the prophet naked, at a time of violent protests in several Muslim countries over the film Innocence of Muslims. |