Three heavily armed men have attacked a French satirical magazine based in Paris, killing at least 12 people, including four cartoonists and two policemen, officials have said.
The lawyer of the magazine confirmed that four cartoonists working with the publication, including the editor Stephane Charbonnier, known as ‘Charb’, were among the dead. Police said 11 people were wounded in the incident, adding that four were in a critical condition.
The cartoonists known as Cabu, Tignous and Wolinski were also killed in the attack, AFP news agency quoted a judicial source as saying.
Anne Giudicelli, the Founder of Terrorisc, a Consultancy on Security Risk, talks to Al Jazeera from Paris on the incident
Charlie Hebdo has drawn repeated threats for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, among other controversial sketches.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the assault was carried out by three attackers.
According to witnesses, one was a driver and the other two were attackers in terms of their role in the incident, police said.
In amateur camera footage shared on the internet, the attackers are heard shouting: “We have avenged the Prophet Mohammad.”
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