The Vatican newspaper has criticised French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo for depicting God as a Kalashnikov-carrying killer, saying it was “woeful” and disrespectful to true believers of all faiths.

They pushed boundaries, one cartoonist said. They were “absolutely crazy”, said another.

Police were last night searching for two brothers from the Paris region and a man from the northeastern city of Reims, over yesterday’s shooting at satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, a police official and government source said.

France’s president has urged the nation to stay united as it hunts gunmen who killed 12 people at the office of a satirical newspaper.

A massive manhunt has been launched for three fugitive gunmen who carried out a deadly terror attack on a French satirical magazine, killing 12 people.