7 replies to this topic

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12 dead in shooting at Paris offices of satirical magazine

PARIS: Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly satirical magazine, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades.

Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) is well known for courting controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders.

Two assailants were captured on video calmly leaving the scene after the shooting. A police union official said the assailants remained at liberty and there were fears of further attacks.

France Info radio said police had confirmed 10 injured. Police informed Reuters that of the 10 wounded, five were injured critically. The news channel quoted a witness as saying he saw the incident from a building nearby in the heart of the French capital.

Some of the best-known cartoonists in France were among the 12 killed when gunmen stormed the office, AFP reported a judicial source as saying.

Editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, and the cartoonists known as Cabu, Tignous and Wolinski were among those killed.


This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it, President Francois Hollande told reporters after rushing to the scene of the attack.

An act of indescribable barbarity has just been committed today in Paris, he said.

Measures have been taken to find those responsible, they will be hunted for as long as it takes to catch them and bring them to justice.

His government raised France's security level to the highest notch and scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting.

International condemnation
US President Barack Obama condemned the terrorist attack and pledged US assistance.

We are in touch with French officials and I have directed my administration to provide any assistance needed to help bring these terrorists to justice, he said.

For us to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today, I think, reinforces once again why it's so important for us to stand in solidarity with them, just as they stand in solidarity with us.

The fact that this was an attack on journalists, attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom, of speech and freedom of the press, he added.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the attack as sickening.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also condemned the despicable attack in a condolence letter to President Hollande.

I was shocked to learn of the despicable attack on the newspaper in Paris, the German leader wrote.

It is also an attack on freedom of expression and the press, a key component of our free democratic culture, which cannot be justified, she added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country condemned all forms of terror, but said terrorism and increasing Islamophobia in Europe were interconnected.

We must fight against increasing racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe which threaten all our values. We must also fight against any form of terrorism, he said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi condemned the deadly attack and said that it highlighted the need to close ranks against militants, AFP reported.

This terrorist attack (is) condemned by Iraq, which has suffered greatly at the hands of terrorist groups, Abadi said in a statement.

This confirms that terrorism threatens all the countries of the world, and not Iraq alone, he said, calling for concerted efforts of the international community in fighting it.

Qatar also expressed strong condemnation of the attack in Paris.

Such acts that target unarmed civilians contradict all principles and moral and human values, Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Arab League and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious centre of learning, both condemned the deadly attack as well.

Al-Azhar condemned the criminal attack, saying that Islam denounces any violence, in remarks carried by Egypt's state news agency MENA.

In a separate statement to AFP, Al-Azhar senior official Abbas Shoman said the institution does not approve of using violence even if it was in response to an offence committed against sacred Muslim sentiments.

Eyewitness accounts
The Telegraph quoted a broadcast journalist with Europe1 News as saying, "Several men in black cagoules were heard to shout 'the Prophet has been avenged'."

Earlier on, the Guardian in it its live updates quoted its reporter as saying: "The journalist Martin Boudot, from the Premières Lignes agency, has posted this video from the roof of a building situated close to the Charlie Hebdo building. we can hear gunshots and voices who cry Allahu akbar."

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About a half an hour ago two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (guns), Benoit Bringer told the station. A few minutes later we heard lots of shots, he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.

[platinum786]

Nothing justifies murder. The loss of these lives is just that, murder.

Having said that when you play with fire you risk getting burnt. Everyone has a right to offend, but nobody should be surprised when that offensive action causes actual offense. To be offensive is not a shortcoming of the persons you are offending but rather a shortcoming in yourself. It shows a lack of respect.

A lot of people today are hiding behind freedom of speech, yet we all know that this is not unlimited. For example you cannot use speech to entice violence (unless hidden behind the cloak of political legitimacy), across most of europe holocaust denial is a crime. There are clearly limits to freedom of speech, they simply don't extend to cover the sensitivities of Muslims, children of a lesser god, people seen on imperial Europe as uncivilised lesser beings.

I won't justify murder as an appropriate reaction to offending Muslims, now let Europe do us the honour of dropping the facade of innocence in this event. This magazine and similar publications deliberately set out to hurt the sentiments of those they don't consider worthy of an equal status in society. They knew that there was nothing that anyone could do about it. Well until someone obviously over reacted.

[butterfly]

Freedom of speech, what a joke.
Now 12 dead, 11 injured and countless arrested. For what? The rights of a handfull to offend billions. They talk of democracy. Well in a democracy the rights of the many outweigh the few. Still was it right to kill them. I think not.

[warhead]

a terror attack was awaited from isis or alquada and now the question is how it was not prevented. It was a gunfight not a sudden kill hard to detect suicide bomb attack. also there are cctv cameras all over the city howcome the terrorists were not detected before and after the attack and get caught immediately if not prevented the attack beforehand. this should be found out to prevent further attacks.

 

Also if some seats are not lost from whom are responsible to track the cctv cameras etc. then there is more to suspect.

 

There would be several implications of this one obvious result would be far right against muslims would get more excuses to gain more free hand in western countries.

 

The other one can be the main reason that usa would benefit. France recently voiced concerns about stopping the sanctions against Russia in ukraine crisis.  After this attack france can also take a more aligned position with Russia in Syria case.  This would make france a perfect candidate for a new  good cop bad cop drama to demand things from Russia to lift the sanctions and everything back to normal like for example in Iran nuclear negotiations which is usa long term strategy for a future nato operation or in similar areas.

[HAROON RASOOL]

It is a classic coincidence that unidentified gunmen stormed the office of French Magazine "Chalie Hebdo" just after french parliament decided to vote to recognize Palestine as a state.
Israel had even warned France of grave consequences, if they voted to recognize Palestine. That Cartoon was published in 2011, there was no attack on magazine that year, Why now? Why after 4 years?
Just Think about it!

Haroon Rasheed (Journalist)

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Grenades thrown at a mosque in Le Mans, west of Paris - reports


Several training grenades were thrown into the courtyard of a mosque in the French city of Le Mans. One of the grenades exploded, but no injuries were reported.

READ MORE: Fatal shooting at Charlie Hebdo HQ in Paris LIVE UPDATES

Four training grenades were thrown onto the property overnight Thursday, the local French daily Ouest-France reports.Three of the unexploded grenades were discovered by police. Police have cordoned off the mosque and so far no arrests have been made.

Screenshot from Google Maps
Screenshot from Google Maps

A gunshot was also reported overnight, with the bullet hitting the mosque.

French police have noted several attacks against mosques since Wednesday, when gunmen opened fire on the Paris office of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

On Thursday morning, an explosion was reported in a kebab shop near a mosque in Villefranche-sur-Saone, eastern France. There are no reports of any injuries and the cause of the blast remains unknown.

READ MORE: Blast hits restaurant near mosque in France's east


The mayor of Villefranche, Perrut Bernard, said he was afraid the blast was linked to the dramatic event that occurred on Wednesday."

Local authorities have told AFP the incident is being investigated.

An assailant also opened fire near a Muslim prayer room in the Port-la-Nouvelle district near Narbonne in southern France on Wednesday night. The door to the room was damaged and a window was broken, but no injuries were reported in the attack. The local prosecutor told AFP the room was empty at the time of the attack.

An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

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Charlie Hebdo fired cartoonist in 2009 for alleged anti-Semitism


Frances Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly has repeatedly cited the right to free speech for its sacrilegious cartoons, yet a close look at its history reveals that it has failed to live up to the same standard.

Earlier this week, Charlie Hebdo did not hesitate to feature a new cartoon of Islams holy Prophet Muhammad on the cover of its special edition after it came under a deadly shooting attack by two gunmen.

The satirical weekly has on numerous occasions published cartoons insulting Islam and Muslims, tagging them as freedom of speech. However, the magazine has itself in the past failed to abide by this stance.

In 2009, the satirical weekly dismissed Maurice Sinet, a political cartoonist with Charlie Hebdo for 20 years, for his cartoons that allegedly ridiculed the relationship of former French President Nicolas Sarkozys son with a wealthy Jewish woman.

In the column, the 80-year-old cartoonist commented on rumors that Sarkozys son, Jean, intended to convert from Catholicism to Judaism to marry the Jewish woman for financial reasons, saying, Hell go a long way in life, that little lad.

At the time, Charlie Hebdos editor, Philippe Val, found the piece offensive and asked Sinet to apologize, but the cartoonist strictly refused to do so.

Sinet then faced charges of anti-Semitism and inciting racial hatred. He was fired and taken to court by the so-called International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism.

The terror attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 has drawn widespread criticism from Muslims all over the world. The shooting assault claimed the lives of 12 people.

MKA/HMV/SS