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This newspaper known as the Charlie Hebdo was in the news some years ago after some its writers and illustrators made nasty references towards the Prophet Mohammad.
We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to those lost in this horrific tragedy.
This was bubbling up for a while.
Before the attack happened, the newspaper made another offensive reference towards the Prophet and the Islamic State.
Meilleurs vœux, au fait. pic.twitter.com/a2JOhqJZJM
— Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_) January 7, 2015
French President Francois Hollande has labelled the shooting a terrorist attack, and confirmed that at least 11 people were killed and another four were in critical condition. Among the dead are two police officers.
“This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it,” Hollande told reporters.
French news organizations are saying that four of France’s most well known cartoonists — Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, and Tignous — are among the dead.
Video shows two gunmen shooting from a distance what is reportedly a Paris policeman, who is then seen struggling on a sidewalk. The two gunmen run over to him, and one casually puts a bullet in the policeman’s head, killing him.
In the video, the gunmen can be heard shouting “Allahu akbar” between bursts of gunfire. The gunmen also shouted “we have avenged the prophet,” according to police.
Hollande arrived at the scene of the shooting after rushing there and calling an emergency cabinet meeting, the presidency said.
The government raised its alert level to the highest possible in the greater Paris region.
A source close to the investigation said two men “armed with a Kalashnikov and a rocket-launcher” stormed the building in central Paris and “fire was exchanged with security forces.”
The source said a gunman had hijacked a car and knocked over a pedestrian while attempting to speed away.
The New York Times reports that the car was later found abandoned “in the 20th Arrondissement of Paris, a neighborhood with a large immigrant population.”
The publication’s cartoonist Renaud Luzier earlier told AFP there were “casualties” after the incident.
The satirical newspaper gained notoriety in February 2006 when it reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that had originally appeared in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, causing fury across the Muslim world.
Its offices were fire-bombed in November 2011 when it published a cartoon of Mohammed and under the title “Charia Hebdo”.
Despite being taken to court under anti-racism laws, the weekly continued to publish controversial cartoons of the Muslim prophet.
In September 2012 Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of a naked Mohammed as violent protests were taking place in several countries over a low-budget film, titled “Innocence of Muslims”, which was made in the United States and insulted the prophet.
French schools, consulates and cultural centres in 20 Muslim countries were briefly closed along with embassies for fear of retaliatory attacks at the time.
Editor Stephane Charbonnier has received death threats and lives under police protection.
The newspaper’s editor in chief, Gérard Biard, is in London. He was quoted on Twitter saying that the threats had actually lessened lately.
France’s interior minister said police are searching for three suspects involved in the attacks.
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