January 7, 2015 posted by Jean Christou - Cyprus Mail
Police put Paris shooting death toll at 12, including two police officers (Update 4)
French President Francois Hollande arrives after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo
Twelve people including two police officers were killed in a shooting at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, a police spokesman said in an update on the death toll.
French President Francois Hollande described as without doubt a terrorist attack.
Witnesses said they saw two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (guns). “A few minutes later we heard lots of shots,” one said, adding that the two men were then seen fleeing the building.
A firebomb attack gutted the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in November 2011 after it put an image of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover.
The publication has launched a series of attacks on Muslim extremism and the last tweet on its profile page @Charlie_Hebdo_, sent about an hour before the shootings, included a satirical cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In it he wishes everyone “good health”.
French President Francois Hollande went to the scene of the shooting.
Hollande said it was a “terrorist attack” which had left France in a state of shock. He said: “At this moment we have 11 people killed… this is not the final figure. At least 40 people have been saved – we don’t know the exact number of victims.”
He said the French government would be holding an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace and the security level in Paris had been raised.
He said: “We are looking for the perpetrators of this crime. France is today in shock, in front of a terrorist attack. We fight threats and we will punish the attackers,” he said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron joined the condemnation of the attack, saying: “The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press.”