French security forces launch manhunt for jihadist Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said for allegedly executing Wednesday’s massacre
Hundreds gather at the Human Rights square in Saint-Denis de la Reunion yesterday to pay tribute to the 12 people who lost their lives in the deadly attack.
Paris: French security forces are desperately hunting for two brothers suspected of gunning down 12 people in a terrorist attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, as a stunned and outraged France mourned the victims.
Hundreds gather at the Human Rights square in Saint-Denis de la Reunion yesterday to pay tribute to the 12 people who lost their lives in the deadly attack. Pic/AFP
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The massacre at the magazine’s office on Wednesday triggered poignant and spontaneous demonstrations of solidarity around the world and more than 1,00,000 poured onto the streets of France.
A passer-by prays in front of candles and flowers placed near the Charlie Hebdo office in memory of the deceased. Pic/AFP
Shocked, people from Moscow to Washington rallied in tens of thousands under the banner ‘I am Charlie’, in support of press freedom and the controversial magazine that has repeatedly lampooned the Prophet Mohammed.
As fear spread after the country’s bloodiest attack in half a century, several other incidents rocked the jittery nation, although it was not clear whether they were linked to yesterday’s attack. Declaring Thursday a national day of mourning — only the fifth in the last 50 years — French President Francois Hollande called the bloodbath ‘an act of exceptional barbarity’ and ‘undoubtedly a terrorist attack’.
Police issued arrest warrants for 32-year-old Cherif Kouachi, a known jihadist convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq, and his 34-year-old brother Said. Both were born in Paris. The brothers, on the run, were likely to be ‘armed and dangerous’, authorities warned.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said seven people had been detained in the hunt for the brothers, and a judicial source added that the detainees — men and women — were close to the suspects.
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