Eleven dead at shooting in Paris newspaper office

A police union official in Paris says 11 people have died, including one journalist, and three officers have been wounded in a shooting at a French satirical newspaper.

Five people have been left critically wounded after gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly publication Charlie Hebdo.

France is now on the highest alert level after President Hollande called the incident a “terrorist attack”.

#BREAKING 11 dead including 2 police in Paris shooting: source

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 7, 2015

Xavier Castaing, head of communications for the Paris police prefecture, confirmed the deaths in a statement.

A Paris-based journalist has said the attack involved men with "rocket-propelled grenades".

The Guardian newspaper is reporting that authorities believe those responsible for the attack are still at large.

Luc Poignard, the union official, said the attackers escaped in two vehicles following the incident at the weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Benoit Bringer, a journalist with Agence Premiere Ligne – who saw the attack, told the iTele network he saw several masked men armed with machine guns.

Fusillade au siège de Charlie Hebdo : "C'est un vrai carnage'" http://t.co/ByQI7bfjQC pic.twitter.com/nPoNfCnojt

— Europe 1 (@Europe1) January 7, 2015

He said two officers arrived on bicycles, then – apparently unarmed – they left.

​"Several men in black cagoules were heard to shout 'the Prophet has been avenged'", wrote Pierre de Cossette, a broadcast journalist with Europe1 News.

.@Pdecossette : plusieurs hommes cagoulés en noir auraient crié "le prophète a été vengé" #E1midi #Charliehebdo

— Europe 1 (@Europe1) January 7, 2015

A French police official Luc Poignant told another French channel, BFMTV: "It's carnage".

The newspaper is the same one that published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in 2012.

The latest tweet published by the magazine's official twitter account at about 10.30am today appeared to be a cartoon of Abu Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

CharlieHebdoLatestTweetPA_large.jpg