Shocking: The chilling image from the Charlie Hebdo office shows blood-stained wooden floors, papers strewn across the corridor
This
is the haunting first photograph from inside the devastated Charlie
Hebdo office hit in a deadly terrorist attack in Paris yesterday.
The
chilling image from the building shows blood-stained wooden floors,
papers strewn across the corridor and a pool of red in one corner.
Eight
journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor
were killed in the horrifying attack on the anti-Islamist newspaper.
Tonight,
two armed suspects wanted over the massacre were being pursued through
woodland as a huge manhunt closed in on a forest.
Six of the Charlie Hebdo journalists and staff members killed in yesterday's attack are pictured together in this photo, taken in 2000. Circled top from left is Philippe Honore, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Maris and Jean Cabut. Below them on the stairs, from left, is editor Stephane Charbonnier and cartoonist Bernard ‘Tignous’ Verlhac
Members of the French police special force GIPN carry out searches in Corcy, northern France, as part of an investigation into the attack
Armed: Members of the GIPN and RAID, French police special forces, walk in Corcy, northern France, as they carry out searches as part of an investigation into a deadly attack the day before by armed gunmen on the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo
Special forces: Members of the GIPN walk in Corcy, northern France, carry out searches as part of the investigation
Police believe they have tracked down the brothers to a remote area about 50 miles north-east of Paris after reportedly robbing a nearby petrol station.
Officers are said to have found a Molotov cocktail bomb and jihadist flag in the car of Cherif and Said Kouachi, which they abandoned before fleeing.
The men, still armed, headed on foot into the vast Forêt de Retz (Retz Forest) that measures 32,000 acres, an area roughly the size of Paris.
The office picture was released following images showing the moment that a murdered police officer pleaded for his life before being executed.
A video from the scene of yesterday's massacre shows officer Ahmed Merabet - believed to be a Muslim - lying wounded on the pavement and begging for mercy before being shot at point-blank range by the terrorists.
As they approach, the 42-year-old is seen raising his hand in appeal for mercy, before asking: ‘Do you want to kill me?’ The gunman then answers: ‘OK chief’ before shooting him through the head with the assault rifle.
The gunmen then return to the car driven by an accomplice, sparking a massive manhunt which was continuing last night.
The shocking images were broadcast all over the world, depicting the sheer brutality of the horror that unfolded in the attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, in which 12 innocent people were killed.
Among the victims, the Al Qaeda assassins – identified as two brothers and an 18-year-old accomplice, all with Algerian links – shot dead two policemen.
Target: After halting their car, the terrorists fire assault rifles at a policeman who tried to stop them, following the massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris
Helpless: The gunmen move in on the officer as Ahmed Merabet - who is believed to have been a Muslim - lies wounded on the pavement
Pleading: Mr Merabet, 42, who was married, raises his hand in an appeal for mercy as the terrorists approach him with their weapons
Callous: One of the terrorists fires at the officer at point-blank range. The attack took place yesterday and killed 12 people
Killing: Leaving the 42-year-old married officer to die, they run off, sparking a massive manhunt which was continuing last night
The massacre was condemned around the world as an assault on freedom of speech. The magazine, which mocks politicians and religions alike, was firebombed in 2011 after carrying a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed.
Nine of its staff were killed in yesterday’s atrocity, including the editor and three cartoonists. It was France’s worst terror attack since 1961.
Opposition MP Jacques Myard said: ‘We are at war, the Western nations – like Britain, France and Germany.’
The hooded, heavily armed gunmen – described by police as operating like a commando unit – told witnesses they were from Al Qaeda and trained in Yemen.
Last night the Paris outrage was being seen as the ‘spectacular’ that Al Qaeda had been threatening since the dramatic rise of Islamic State replaced it as the most feared jihadi organisation.
The suspects were named as Said Kouachi, 34, his brother Cherif, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18.
A police operation took place late lat night the north-eastern city of Reims, where Said lived.
Early this morning, a source close to the case said Mourad surrendered to police 'after seeing his name on social media' and was arrested at an undisclosed location.
, 32, his brother Said Kouachi (right), 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers
A raid by France’s elite anti-terrorist unit took place late yesterday in Reims as part of the hunt for the gunmen who attacked the newspaper
Either the suspects will be able to escape, or ‘there will be a showdown’, said a member of the unit, urging reporters at the scene to be ‘vigilant'
Dozens of members of the elite anti-terror unit were surrounding an apartment building.
The Kouachi brothers hailed from the Paris suburb of Pantin, where Cherif still lived.
He was convicted in 2008 and jailed for three years for his association with a group sending jihadist fighters to Iraq.
Hamyd is believed to have been living recently in Charleville-Mezieres, in the French Ardennes. All three men had Algerian origins.
The massacre at the second-floor offices of the magazine in the heart of the French capital appeared well planned with gunmen calling out names of journalists and cartoonists before shooting them.
Police union official Rocco Contento warned: ‘There is a possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured.’
Faces of the victims: Among the journalists killed were (l to r) Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier, who is also editor-in-chief, and Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous
Emergency: Police officers and firefighters gathered in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris after gunmen stormed the building
Critical: Firefighters carried an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo after the shooting
Last night: French forensic experts and police officers examine evidence outside the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris
A police photographer (partially hidden) works with investigators as they examine the impacts from machine gun fire on a police vehicle
As soldiers took to the streets of Paris:
- President Francois Hollande called the attack one ‘of exceptional barbarity’;
- Barack Obama described it as cowardly;
- Thousands took to the streets of Paris in support of those killed;
- It was feared the death toll would rise with five of the dozen injured on the critical list;
- Britain offered help as MI5 and MI6 joined the manhunt;
- Home Secretary Theresa May warned the threat to Britain was ‘grave and relentless’;
Targeted: A picture posted on Twitter reportedly showing bullets in one of the windows of the Charlie Hebdo offices
High alert: French soldiers patrol at the Eiffel Tower after the Charlie Hebdo shooting as the militants are hunted across the city
French soldiers disembark at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, as part of a deployment of soldiers to enhance security in Paris last night
Vigil: People gathered around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique in Paris in support of the victims after the terrorist attack
People gather in Toulouse last night to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack by gunmen on the offices of the satirical publication
Elsewhere: People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack on the offices of the satirical weekly
‘I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the magazine building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us,’ said Miss Rey, who draws under the name Coco. ‘They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code,’ said Miss Rey, referring to the security system on the interphone.
Miss Rey and her daughter hid under a desk, from where they saw two cartoonists murdered. ‘They shot Wolinski and Cabu,’ she said. ‘It lasted five minutes.’ Miss Rey said the men ‘spoke French perfectly’ and ‘claimed they were ‘Al Qaeda terrorists’.
Calmly leaving behind a scene resembling a war zone with bullet-riddled windows, blood-stained floors and walls and the cries of the dying and wounded, the men ran on to the street outside – their exit and horrific murder that followed captured on a video taken from a nearby rooftop.
Witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting ‘We have avenged the Prophet Mohammed’, ‘God is Great’ in Arabic and boasting ‘We have killed Charlie Hebdo’. The gunmen made their escape stopping to kill Mr Merabet and then to hijack a car after their vehicle was damaged in a crash.
Appealing for national unity, President Hollande said: ‘We are threatened because we are a country of liberty.’
Charlie Hebdo’s website, which went offline during the attack, is showing the single image of ‘Je suis Charlie’ (I am Charlie) on a black banner, referring to a hashtag that is trending on Twitter in solidarity with the victims.
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