Deadly attack on satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo, attackers remain at large
Updated : 16:25
Three gunmen remain on the run after shooting 12 people dead at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine.
The last tweet from the Charlie Hebdo's Twitter feed before the attack was a spoof of the Ieader of the Islamic State militant group Al-Baghdadi giving a New Year’s greeting.
Those killed in the attack include Stephane Charbonnier, known as 'Charb', the magazine's publication director and cartoonist Jean Cabu, its artistic director, as well as cartoonists Bernard 'Tignou' Verlhac and George Wolinski, according to the magazine's lawyer.
Editor-in-chief Gerard Biard escaped the carnage as he was in London at the time.
This is not the first time the magazine has been attacked. In 2011, Charlie Hebdo was fire-bombed after publishing cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed.
Charbonnier was included in a 2013 'Wanted Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam' article published by Inspire, Al Qaeda's terrorist propaganda magazine.
In solidarity with the slain journalists, the Sydicat National des Journalistes (National Union of Journalists) will hold a rally on Wednesday evening in the centre of Paris, with numerous marches were being organised throughout France later on Wednesday, accordnig to Le Figaro.
Writer Salman Rushdie, who was subject of a fatwa after writing his novel The Satanic Verses, put out a statement, part of which read: "I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.
"‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion’. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect."
Ian Hislop, editor of UK satirical title Private Eye, said the victims of "paid a very high price for exercising their comic liberty".