Gunmen 'still at large' after 12 shot dead at Paris newspaper

Officials say that the gunmen responsible for the shooting dead of 12 people at a French satirical newspaper are still at large in Paris.

Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo weekly in France’s deadliest terror attack in at least two decades.

Witness David Chour told the BBC from close to the scene: “A lot of people from the shops heard a lot of gunshots.

“Two guys entered with Kalashnikov guns and shot the people. I haven’t seen them directly but people around said they just went away.

“People are very shocked.”

Local news outlet Le Point has reported that cartoonists Jean Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier and Bernard ``Tignous'' Verlhac are among the dead.

It is being reported that one of the cars used by the attackers has been found in Paris' 12th district.

Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre confirmed that 12 people were killed.

Reports in France have suggested the attack was carried out during editorial conference to discuss the next issue - an Islam-themed edition.

French President Francois Hollande said the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which has frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, is “a terrorist attack, without a doubt”.

He added that several other attacks have been thwarted “in recent weeks”.

The President said France was targeted "because we are a country of freedom".

He said the total number of dead was not yet known but that 40 people had been saved from the newspaper's offices, and called an emergency governmental meeting for 2pm.

"The security level in Paris has been raised as a result of the attack and while police are looking for perpetrators."

France has reinforced security at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation.

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

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

Gilles Boulanger, who works in the same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices, likened the scene to a war zone.

He told the BBC: “A neighbour called to warn me that there were armed men in the building and that we had to shut all the doors.

“And several minutes later there were several shots heard in the building from automatic weapons firing in all directions.

“So then we looked out of the window and saw the shooting was on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, with the police. It was really upsetting. You’d think it was a war zone.”

Earlier, a witness to the attack, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network, that he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper offices in central Paris.

Elise Barthet, a journalist with French newspaper Le Monde, tweeted a photo which she described as the Charlie Hebdo attackers pointing guns at French police.

Benoit Bringer 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.

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

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

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

Charlie Hebdo's offices were firebombed in 2011 after a spoof issue featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on its cover.

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

Nearly a year later, the publication again published crude Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations around the Muslim world.

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

— Europe 1 (@Europe1) January 7, 2015

The extremist Islamic State group has threatened to attack France, and minutes before the attack Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of that extremist group’s leader giving New Year’s wishes.