BREAKING NEWS: Anti-terror police surround building in hunt for three suspects, including two brothers ‘trained in Yemen as assassins’, over Paris magazine massacre that left 12 dead

•One suspect killed and two others in custody, US counter-terrorism officials claim, but this has not been confirmed

•Masked gunmen storm Paris headquarters with AK-47s shouting ‘Allahu akbar!’ and ‘the Prophet has been avenged’

•Stalked building asking for people’s names before killing the editor, three cartoonists and the deputy chief editor

•Editor Stephane Charbonnier had famously shrugged off threats, saying: ‘I’d rather die standing than live kneeling’

•Horrific footage shows a police officer begging for his life before being shot in the head at point-blank range

•Cartoonist Corrine Rey told how she cowered with her young daughter as she watched two colleagues gunned down

•Killers fled in stolen car across eastern Paris after a ‘mass shoot-out’ with police officers and remain on the loose

•Militants believed to be from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which was behind plane bomb plots in US and UK

•Three suspects said to be all French citizens – a homeless teenage man aged 18, and two brothers aged 32 and 34

•Newspaper had earlier posted a picture of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on its Twitter account

•Publication’s offices were firebombed in 2011 for publishing satirical cartoon of Prophet Mohammed

•White House had previously criticised Charlie Hebdo in 2012 for publishing its religiously sensitive cartoons

Two brothers were tonight named as being among the three suspects involved in a deadly terrorist attack on an anti-Islamist newspaper in France.

Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, were identified along with Hamyd Mourad, 18, with all three from the Paris commuter town of Gennevilliers.

A raid by France’s elite anti-terrorist unit was under way late tonight 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 remain ‘vigilant’.

At least 100,000 people gathered across France tonight to back the publication, Charlie Hebdo, as a huge manhunt was launched to find the attackers.

The suspected Al Qaeda militants massacred 12 people in Paris today – and among those slaughtered was a police officer as he begged for mercy.

Tonight, thousands of people went to Republique Square near the scene to honour the victims, holding signs reading ‘Je suis Charlie’ – ‘I am Charlie’.

Suspects: The three men were named as Said Kouachi (left), 34, his brother Cherif Kouachi (right), 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers

A raid by France’s elite anti-terrorist unit was underway late yesterday in Reims as part of the hunt for the gunmen who attacked the newspaper

Brutal execution: A police officer pleads for mercy on the pavement in Paris before being shot in the head by masked gunmen during an attack on the headquarters of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, a notoriously anti-Islamic publication

Gunned down in cold blood: Horrific footage shows the injured police officer slumped on the pavement as two of the gunmen approach. In a desperate plea for his life, the officer slowly raises his hand towards one of the attackers, who callously shoots him at point-blank range

Running away: Gunmen shoot dead a wounded police officer on the ground at point-blank range as they flee the offices of Charlie Hebdo

Massacre’: The gunmen are seen brandishing Kalashnikovs as they move in on the injured police officer from their vehicle outside the office

Vigil: People gather around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique in Paris in support of the victims after the terrorist attack

The three suspects were tonight said by Metronews to be all French citizens – a homeless teenage man, and two brothers in their thirties.

There were disputed claims that the three men had been arrested 100 miles away in Reims, following a report by Libération. This could not be verified.

Cherif Kouachi was convicted in 2008 of terrorism charges for helping funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency and sentenced to 18 months in prison. 

Two senior US counter-terrorism officials told NBC News that one suspect was killed and the others in custody – but also could also not be confirmed.

Clad all in black with hoods and speaking French, the militants forced one of the cartoonists – at the office with her young daughter – to open the door.

Witnesses said the gunmen shouted ‘we are from the Al Qaeda in Yemen’, and ‘Allahu akbar!’ – Arabic for ‘God is great’ – as they stalked the building. 

They were also said to have yelled ‘the Prophet has been avenged’, during what was France’s deadliest post-war terrorist attack.

The attackers headed straight for the paper’s editor and cartoonist, Stephane Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard.

The security had been recruited to protect him after extremists firebombed the offices in 2011 over a satirical cartoon about the Prophet Mohammed. 

People gather in Toulouse tonight 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

Standing together: People hold up pens and posters reading ‘I am Charlie’ in French as they take part in a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London

People gather near candles lit to commemorate the victims of the deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, in Lyon, central France

‘Not afraid’: People gather to pay their respects for the victims of the terror attack against the satirical newspaper, in Paris tonight

A year later, Mr Charbonnier famously dismissed threats against his life, declaring: ‘I would rather die standing than live kneeling.’

The militants also killed three other renowned cartoonists – men who had regularly satirised Islam – and the newspaper’s deputy chief editor. 

Despite a shoot-out with armed officers, the gunmen escaped in a hijacked car and remained on the loose this evening.

This left the French capital in virtual lockdown as police and soldiers flooded the streets to join the search. 

President Barack Obama offered U.S. help in pursuing the gunmen, saying they had attacked freedom of expression.

But it also emerged that the White House had previously criticised Charlie Hebdo in 2012 over its Prophet Mohammed cartoon.

At the time it had said that the images would be ‘deeply offensive to many and have the potential to be inflammatory’.

 

Emergency: Police officers and firefighters gather in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris today after gunmen stormed the building

Critical: Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo after the shooting

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