Attack on Charlie Hebdo office in Paris: As it happened

Paris: At least 12 people have been killed in a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper firebombed in the past after publishing cartoons joking about Muslim leaders.

French President François Hollande called the storming of the magazine office a terrorist attack. The police is on lookout for two armed gunmen which are still at large after carrying out the attack.

Here are the live updates of the shooting incident -

• Google France on its homepage added a black ribbon following the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
• 
• Controversial India-born author Salman Rushdie, expressing solidarity with the French satirical magazine, said like all other ideas, religions must be subject to satire.
• There will be a vigil in London's Trafalgar Square this evening in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo magazine.
• French newspaper Le Monde has run a cartoon tribute from Plantu, one of its regular illustrators, for the victims of attack. It says "With Charlie Hebdo, wholeheartedly."
• 
• British Prime Minister David Cameron has written on his Twitter handle, "Angela Merkel and I just spoke to President Hollande. We told him our thoughts are with the French people and offered any help that is needed. We're united in our condemnation of the horrifying Paris murders."
• The car in which the gunmen fled after the shooting have been impounded by the police and forensic examination of the black Citroen car is being carried out. The vehicle was found at 19th district in north-eastern Paris.
• After the attack, around 3000 security personnel have been deployed on the streets of Paris.
• The bodies of the victims in the Charlie Hebdo offices are being removed from the building now.
• The website of Charlie Hebdo, which reportedly shutdown after the attack, is back online. The website shows only a single image which reads "Je Suis Charlie" ("I Am Charlie"), which has been trending worldwide on social media.
• 
• A spokesperson of French police, Emmanuel Quemener, said that the police have the description of the gunmen from the people who were present at the time of the event and these people will be interrogated.
• US Secretary of State John Kerry, condemning the attack, said, as quoted by BBC, "We stand with you in solidarity and in commitment both to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause which the extremists fear so much and which has always united our two countries: freedom."
• Along with world leaders, Arab League and top Muslim body condemn the attack in Paris.
• Spontaneous rally at Republic Square is being held and 'Je Suis Charlie' (I Am Charlie) is quickly spreading as a sign of support to victims of today’s shooting.
• Editor Stéphane Charbonnier and colleagues Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Verlhac, and Bernard Maris have lost their lives. Maris was an economist and a writer.
• French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says, “France is heart-stricken, every French citizen is “horrified”.
• The Arab League and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam`s most prestigious centre of learning, both condemned the deadly attack on the Paris satirical newspaper.
• The Danish newspaper that caused a global stir with a series of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed stepped up security after a deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
• France's top security official confirms that three gunmen carried out the terror attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
• A cartoonist at Charlie Hebdo, Corine Rey, was quoted by France 24 as saying that she let the gunmen into the magazine office after being held at gunpoint. Rey told that the gunmen said that they were al Qaeda and shot four cartoonists and added that the shooting lasted about five minutes. The cartoonist also informed that the gunmen spoke perfect French.
• Mazagine's editor-in-chief, Charb, killed in the attack, had reportedly received death threats in the past and was living under police protection.
• As the gunmen are still on the loose, the soldiers have been put in place by the French government to protect public spaces in Paris.
• In a video of the attack filmed by a man taking refuge on a nearby rooftop, the attackers were heard shouting "Allah-u-Akbar" (God is greatest) between rounds of heavy arms fire, as per AFP.
• As per France24, among the ten journalists killed four were cartoonists, Cabu, Tignous and Wolinski, including the one which made the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed, citing Charlie Hebdo's lawyer.
• The reports coming in indicate that the gunmen stormed the rooms of magazine office and executed the killings before killing two police and fleeing from the scene.
• The editor-in-chief of the magazine, Stephane Charbonnier, was also killed by the masked gunmen during the shooting.
• Some of the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo magazine have been reportedly killed by the attackers.
• After US, UK and French President, NATO has condemned the terror attack at the Charlie Hebdo office. "My full solidarity with our ally France following attack on press freedom," NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.
• Security in various marketplaces and other crowded places in Delhi has also been beefed up after Paris terror attack.
• French news agency reports that White House condemns Paris attack in 'strongest possible terms'.
• The death toll in the shooting incident has now risen to 12, as per the prosecutors, while several people injured in the attack remain critical

Condemnable & despicable attack in Paris. Our solidarity with people of France. My thoughts are with families of those who lost their lives. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 7, 2015

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the attack in his posted on Twitter saying, "Condemnable & despicable attack in Paris. Our solidarity with people of France. My thoughts are with families of those who lost their lives (sic)."
• The last tweet by the magazine's handle before attack shows ISIS leader al-Baghdadi giving best wishes for 2015.

Meilleurs vœux, au fait. pic.twitter.com/a2JOhqJZJM — Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_) January 7, 2015

• Hebdo gunmen sped away in hijacked car towards east Paris at the mass shoot-out with police officers.
• Police said that the attackers at the magazine's office shouted "we have avenged the prophet".
• The Charlie Hebdo was known for its attacks on religions and had carried a caricature of Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
• British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the 'sickening' murders at French satirical weekly.
• Alert has been issued and police is on a lookout for two heavily armed gunmen that are on the loose. 
• Charlie Hebdo is also being reported to be as one of the most provocative magazine with its satires and cartoons depicting religious leaders
• French President, addressing the media, said that the shooting at the office of the magazine was 'undoubtedly a terrorist attack'
• President Hollande is on way to the shooting as France has raised Paris alert status to highest level after shooting at a publication office of a satirical magazine.
• French President François Hollande, after the shocking incident, has called for an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation.

• According to reports, eye-witnesses saw masked men heavily armed with machine guns.

• Five other people were also seriously injured in the shooting incident.
• The death toll in the shooting incident has rises to 11. Reports say that nine journalist and two police were killed in the attack.
• At least 10 people have been reportedly killed in the firing.
• Two masked gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo office in Paris.