Paris attacks live updates: French president calls for vigilance, unity
Police have killed suspects who were holed up in two locations following a manhunt for two brothers suspected of killing 12 this week at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. A female suspect is still at large, an official said.
Alleged hostage-taker speaks with BFM TV
BFM TV reported that Amedy Coulibaly telephoned the station at about 3 p.m. in the midst of the hostage-taking at the kosher market, and claimed to be “synchronized” with the Kouachi brothers.
"We just synchronized ourselves for the start, that is when they started Charlie Hebdo and I started to do the police," he said, referring to the magazine attack and the policewoman's killing a day later.
In an excerpt broadcast by BFM TV, Coulibaly claimed to be from the extremist group Islamic State and said he had received instructions from the caliphate.
He told the station that there were four dead people in the shop, and that he was with 16 people, including children.
Earlier Friday morning, a journalist from BFM TV called the print shop where the Kouachi brothers were holed up to try to reach witnesses and ended up speaking with Cherif Kouachi, the station reported.
Kouachi agreed to an interview, telling the reporter that he was sent by Al Qaeda and financed by Anwar Awlaki before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
Night falls in Paris after standoffs end; Arc de Triomphe alight with 'Paris est Charlie'
Matthieu Alexandre / AFP/Getty Images
French president issues call for vigilance, unity
French President Francois Hollande thanked policemen for their efforts and urged the country to remain vigilant in a televised address Friday.
"Even though France is aware it has faced up to these attacks and its security forces are composed of courageous men and women," Hollande said, "France also knows it’s not over yet with the threat and hence I would like to issue a call for vigilance."
Hollande also expressed condolences to the families of the victims and those injured and called for unity.
"Unity is our weapon and we must show our determination to fight against anything that might divide us," he said.
Hollande ended the speech encouraging people to attend a unity rally in Paris on Sunday.
"I’d like to call upon all French people to stand up this Sunday for liberty, pluralism, all those values that are so important to us … so that we’ll be even stronger after this trial," Hollande said. "Long live the republic, long live France."
Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images
Immediate threat hopefully resolved, Obama says
French Interior minister: 'Vigilance remains extremely high'
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised police and emergency personnel for their efforts and said the level of mobilization and vigilance remains "extremely high."
"The events that we have just witnessed show how grave the threat is and the kind of violence that these terrorists are capable of," Cazeneuve said on Friday.
Police remain mobilized, Cazeneuve said.
One of brothers believed to have trained with Al Qaeda in Yemen
U.S. intelligence officials are looking closely at what role Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen may have played in the attack on a newspaper office in Paris this week that killed 12 after determining that one of the gunmen trained with the terrorist group.
The gunman, Said Kouachi, is believed to have traveled to Yemen in 2011 to train with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. At the time, the jihadist organization was a magnet for Westerners wanting to join Al Qaeda. The Yemen cell was responsible both for the failed attempt to blow up a jetliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 using a bomb hidden in a man’s underwear as well as a disrupted plot to hide explosives in printer cartridges shipped to Chicago a year later.
Police official says possible second hostage taker found in market; 3 hostages killed
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation, has confirmed the following to The Times:
--Police found what appears to be the body of a second gunman inside the market in eastern Paris. That person has not been identified.
--Three hostages were found dead after the market was evacuated. Police believe they were killed in the initial attack on the building. Just before storming the building, police could see people inside who were not moving, and suspected they were already dead.
--At least three hostages suffered serious injuries, but it is not clear when they were hurt. It's still unclear exactly how many hostages were held at the market, but the official said it was more than the five or six initially reported. Some of the hostages apparently hid out in a cold storage room.
--A female suspect drove the two hostage takers to the market at about 1 p.m. She is still at large. Police haven't ruled out the possibility of additional accomplices at large.
--At least two police officers were injured during the raid on the market, and another was hurt in the raid at the printing press.
--The person initially reported to be held hostage by the Kouachi brothers was actually hiding in the building. "Apparently the brothers didn't realize this person was there," the official told The Times. "He was hiding throughout and entered into contact with our officers."
French police still hunting for female suspect, FBI says
Police are still searching for Hayat Boumeddiene, suspected of shooting to death a French policewoman Thursday.
Boumeddiene allegedly carried out the attack with Amedy Coulibaly, the suspect who police say was holding hostages at a Paris market before police stormed in.
Coulibaly is reportedly dead.
Dramatic video of police storming Paris supermarket
French TV shows hostages fleeing from Paris market
Live images on French television stations showed dozens of police in riot gear swarming around a kosher market in Paris where hostages were taken Friday.
They could be seen swarming around the building, shining flashlights inside. A small explosion was visible near the main glass entrance doors before the officers stormed in.
Moments later, hostages started rushing out. They fled on foot in different directions, looking confused and disoriented. Some took shelter behind an armored police truck, which is parked in front of the grocery store.
One of the hostages appeared to be an elderly woman who was unsteady on her feet. A police officer yanked her by the arm toward the armored vehicle.
The police are all wearing black, have guns and helmets on and visors down. Some of them have their guns trained, ready to fire.
--Christina Boyle
Suspect at market is dead, says French official
The suspect holding several hostages at a supermarket in eastern Paris is dead, the French ambassador to the United States said on Twitter.
According to Jean-Jacques Urvoar, police stormed the supermarket.
The hostages are reportedly alive.
AP reports suspects killed
Explosions also heard near Paris supermarket where hostages held, police storm market
Explosions and sirens could be heard near the Hyper Cacher supermarket in eastern Paris, where a suspect was said to be holding several hostages.
Two ambulances were seen leaving the scene, at least one of which had patients inside.
The Associated Press reported that police had stormed the store, and that at least one woman had been seen leaving.
Explosions and gunfire heard near where suspects said to be holed up
Police official: Attacker holding hostages at market has 'sure' link to brothers
An attacker armed with an AK-47 who stormed a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris Friday afternoon is linked to the suspects in the Charlie Hebdo shootings, a senior police official told the New York Times.
The gunman had taken five people, including women and children, hostage, police official Christophe Tirante told the newspaper.
Tirante identified the attacker as Amedy Coulibaly and said there was a 'sure' connection between him and the two brothers who are believed to be cornered in a separate hostage situation in a printing shop in Dammartin-en-Goële, near Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Police officials have named Coulibaly as one of two suspects in the fatal shooting of a policewoman in a Paris suburb Thursday.
Tirante said Coulibaly's first demand from the supermarket was for police to release Cherif and Said Kouachi, the brothers who are suspected of killing 12 people in the attack.
Salesman at printing shop says he shook suspect's hand
A salesman at the printing shop currently surrounded by police told France Info radio that when the two men, believed to be the brothers, arrived this morning, he initially assumed they were officers with police special operations and shook one of the suspect's hands. He said the man was dressed in black combat gear and heavily armed.
“Go, we don’t kill civilians," the gunman said, according to the witness, who gave his name only as Didier. “I thought it was strange,” he said.
“As I left I didn’t know what it was, it wasn’t normal. I did not know what was going on. Was it a hostage taking or a burglary?"
Paris shops in Jewish district ordered to close
Police have ordered shops on Rosiers street in Paris' Marais neighborhood to close, the Associated Press reported.
The area is a famous Jewish neighorhood in the heart of the tourist district and less than a mile away from the offices of Charlie Hebdo, but it is not close to the grocery store currently under siege in Paris.
The Marais neighborhood is outlined below.
Google Maps
--Julie Westfall
Police name suspects in killing of police officer
Police have released the names and photos of suspects in the shooting and killing of a police officer yesterday in a suburb of Paris.
A gunman shot the officer during a traffic incident and fled, authorities said.
It is not been clear if the shooting has been linked to Wednesday's Charlie Hebdo killings.
--Julie Westfall
In Dammartin-en-Goele: 'We feel safe because of the law enforcement'
Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images
Resident Tilémakhos Paraskevas, 26, lives a few streets away from the printing factory where the suspected terrorists are believed to be camped out, and described the scene as something out of a "horror movie."
"There were helicopters in the air this morning. I could see about 100 police in the streets and police trucks," he said.
"Law enforcement were knocking on all the doors and telling people not to leave, to close the windows and turn off the lights."
Later in the afternoon, the atmosphere took on an erie calm.
"We feel safe because of the law enforcement, but we are anxious. There is not a lot of information about what is happening."
As shown above, French police were blocking access to the town.
--Christina Boyle
Witness at scene of grocery store: 'I heard a shot ring out'
Witness Eric Dadone-Vaillant, who lives in Porte de Vincennes, found himself trapped in a café across the street from the grocery store as law enforcement suddenly swarmed the area to deal with a second hostage situation.
"I heard a shot ring out and then the police arrived immediately on the scene," he said. "I saw a man down on the ground."
Up to 20 officers crammed into the cafe and others crouched behind cars in the street.
"The police here have confirmed that it is a hostage situation and that we would probably be here for a while," he said.
They instructed customers to move away from the windows. "I'm taking shelter with everyone, behind the counter," Dadone-Vaillant said.
Below, France 24 is streaming English-language coverage of the grocery store situation.
--Aviva Cashmira
Gunman has hostages at Jewish grocery store
The Paris prosecutor has told the Associated Press that a gunman is holding hostages at a kosher market in eastern Paris. SWAT police are on the scene.
Suspects say they 'want to die as martyrs'
There were reports on French TV of at least one hostage being held near the factory, and Yves Albarello, a member of parliament for Siene-et-Marne, said the suspected terrorists told negotiators they "want to die as martyrs."
Choppers pursue shooting suspects
Operation to detain suspects underway
'We must not stop laughing'
Eiffel Tower goes dark
Gun and grenade attacks outside at least two French mosques have heightened fears of an anti-Muslim backlash.
The deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical newspaper, came as far-right parties have been gaining in popularity not only in France but also in Germany, Britain, Greece and elsewhere, feeding the anti-immigrant sentiments on which they thrive.
Profiles of all 12 victims
Philippe Honore (Richard Brunel / EPA)
The Times has published details about the lives of all 12 victims of Wednesday's deadly shooting attack in Paris. Read more about them here: Who they were: Victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack
The final four people profiled are the following:
Cartoonist Philippe Honore was 73. He drew for Charlie Hebdo for more than two decades and was published in other prominent French papers, including Le Monde and Liberation.
Frederic Boisseau was 42. He was a maintenance worker at the Charlie Hebdo offices. He is survived by a wife and two children, ages 10 and 12.
Elsa Cayat was the only woman killed in Wednesday's attack. She was a psychoanalyst and a columnist for the paper.
Mustapha Ourrad, a copy editor, was known for his erudition and self-mockery, Le Monde reported. He moved from Algeria to France when he was 20.
A defiant Charlie Hebdo plans to print 1 million copies
The surviving staff members of Charlie Hebdo struck a defiant tone Thursday, vowing to resume publication next week.
Calling itself "the newspaper of survivors," the satiric magazine said it would put out its next edition Jan. 14, a week after hooded gunmen stormed the publication's offices and killed 12 people.
The publication's attorney told France Info radio it intends to publish 1 million copies of the issue.
In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp., former Charlie Hebdo employee Caroline Fourest criticized "those crazy, stupid people who were violent enough to be afraid of such simple cartoons."
"They can continue to be afraid, because there will be more cartoons," she told the network.
France's Minister of Culture Fleur Pellerin pledged the government's support of the publication Thursday, saying, "We have to organize ourselves so the next edition of Charlie Hebdo comes out."
Fourest left little doubt that that would happen, saying she and several survivors and ex-staffers had decided to proceed.
"There is no way, even if they kill 10 of us, there is no way that the newspaper won't be out next week."
Pledges of money, support flow in to keep Charlie Hebdo afloat
Several media organizations pledged their support, financial and otherwise, to keep Charlie Hebdo running in the wake of the attacks.
Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief of The Guardian, tweeted Thursday that his company had pledged £100,000, or about $150,000, to the satiric magazine.
Google, he said, had pledged $300,000, though a spokesperson for the company could not be reached immediately Thursday to confirm the figure.
Some of the financial support could be coming from a Google-backed fund called the Digital Innovation Press Fund, based in France.
In an email, Ludovic Blecher, managing director of the fund, said the organization is still "trying to figure out a way to provide financial support" to Charlie Hebdo. Blecher declined to confirm the amounts of any monetary pledges, but added that other publications had offered their offices and other resources so the magazine's staff can continue.
A joint statement from Le Monde, Radio France and France Televisions said the trio would provide resources necessary to keep the satirical magazine running.
France's Minister of Culture Fleur Pellerin told French media outlets Thursday that she wants to make about 1 million euros available to support the magazine, The Daily Mirror reported.
Obama extends 'deepest sympathy and solidarity'
Associated Press
President Obama visited the French Embassy in Washington on Thursday evening, signed a book of condolences and stood in silence for about a minute.
In the condolences book, he wrote: “On behalf of all Americans, I extend our deepest sympathy and solidarity to the people of France following the terrible terrorist attack in Paris. As allies across the centuries, we stand united with our French brothers to ensure that justice is done and our way of life is defended. We go forward together knowing that terror is no match for freedom and ideals we stand for — ideals that light the world. Vive la France!”
Above, French Ambassador Gerard Araud watches Obama sign the book.
One suspect is said to be linked to Al Qaeda
French Police / AFP/Getty Images
One of the suspects in the attack on Charlie Hebdo had received training by an Al Qaeda-affiliated militia in Yemen in 2011, U.S. officials disclosed.
In Washington, a senior official said one of the Kouachi brothers traveled to Yemen for training from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a militant group that has attempted multiple attacks against U.S. and Western targets in recent years. The official was not immediately able to say which of the two brothers, , had been trained by the militants.
Above: Cherif, left, and Said Kouachi.
Promotion of novel 'Soumission' suspended
Michel Houellebecq has suspended the promotion of his new book "Soumission" ("Submission"), featured on Charlie Hebdo's latest cover, a BBC translation of a France TV report said.
Houellebecq, a novelist accused of inciting Islamophobia with the book, said he was "deeply affected" by the death of his friend Bernard Maris, who was killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack, according to the BBC translation.
In the novel, set in 2022, French voters elect a moderate Muslim president. From there, the country turns into a Muslim-like state, where "women abandon Western dress and leave work, non-Muslim teachers are forced out of their jobs and polygamy is reinstated," according to the Telegraph.
Explosions near mosques
AFP/Getty Images
Explosions near two French mosques occurred early Thursday, according to the Associated Press. It was unclear whether they were related to Wednesday's deadly rampage in the Charlie Hebdo offices.
No one was injured, AP reported, but the Thursday attacks -- one in Le Mans, southwest of Paris, and the other in Villefranche-sur-Saone to the southeast -- raised worries about a possible backlash against France's Muslims.
According to AFP News, the explosive in Villefranche-sur-Saone was placed in front of a kebab restaurant a few yards from a mosque’s entrance.
In Le Mans, three blank grenades were thrown at a mosque and shots were fired at the building, AFP said. Above, a photo of a bullet hole at that mosque.
Searching in the forest
After nightfall Thursday, French television showed police in body armor carrying automatic weapons fanning out to search homes and forests near the village of Longpont in the northern Picardy region where the suspects were reportedly sighted earlier in the day.
U.S.' Eric Holder to go to Paris for talks on terrorism
AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. plans to travel to Paris for a high-level international security meeting Sunday convened by the French Interior Ministry to discuss terrorist threats and strategy for countering violent extremism.
Eiffel tower dims lights to honor victims
Screenshot via CTV News
Attack survivor tweets gratitude
Corinne Rey, a Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, was putting in a security code to enter the building housing the Hebdo offices, when two gunmen forced her to open the door, according to a New York Times translation of her interview with French magazine L'Humanite.
The cartoonist, who goes by the pen name Coco, used her Twitter account to thank everyone for their support.
Crowds chanting: 'Charlie is not dead'
Growing tributes outside Charlie Hebdo offices
Eiffel Tower set to go dark
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said the Eiffel tower will go dark at 8 p.m. local time in honor of the victims of the terrorist attack. Hidalgo also called for the "defenders of liberty" to again gather at the Place de la République in Paris for vigils.
Parisians gather in the rain to honor victims
Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images
Under gray, rainy skies, Parisians and others continued to pay homage Thursday to the 12 killed in the rampage.
"Whoever did this wanted to shut the mouth of free expression" said ¿Margy Adjouhgniope, 21, one of a pair of sisters, both university students, who traveled to a makeshift shrine at the Place de la Republique in central Paris.
The iconic plaza, with its signature monument to liberty, fraternity and equality, has become a kind of collective mourning ground for the 12 people killed in the attack on the magazine’s offices in Paris. Handwritten signs proclaim "I am Charlie" in various languages.
People have added pens and scribbled notes to the mounds of flowers and candles, in a nod to the journalists' craft. One person wrote: "Don't kill anyone in the name of my religion."
At noon, during a moment of silence declared for the victims, those gathered in the plaza held hands as they circled the monument.¿ Some had tears in their eyes.
"It was a very moving, solemn moment," ¿said Thomas Rutledge, an American chemistry professor visiting Paris. "It was about freedom of speech and how critical it is that voices be heard."
Charlie Hebdo plans 1 million-copy print run
An attorney for Charlie Hebdo told the French newspaper Le Monde that an issue of the satirical magazine will be published next Wednesday. Richard Malka, the magazine's attorney, said a million copies will be printed.
Latest developments in the manhunt
-- Police named the two at-large suspects as Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother Cherif, 32.
-- A variety of French media reports say the two are suspected in a robbery of a gas station in northern France early Thursday.
-- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France's RTL radio that several people had been detained overnight in relation to the shooting investigation.
Pope offers #PrayersForParis
During Thursday's Mass in Vatican City, Pope Francis asked for prayers for the victims of the Paris attack. He also asked for prayers for those "who are cruel so that the Lord may change their heart," according to the Associated Press
Britain raises security at ports, border
Britain has increased security at ports and border points after the deadly attack in Paris, though British officials say there is no specific new threat to the country, the Associated Press reported. Prime Minister David Cameron's office says the national threat level remains at "severe," which means intelligence officials believe an attack is highly likely.
France mourns 12 dead in Charlie Hebdo attack
Matthieu Alexandre / AFP/Getty Images
Bells rang out, Paris public transport stood still and children sat silent as France mourned 12 people killed in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices. French President Francois Hollande ordered flags at half-staff to honor the victims. Onlookers wept while listening to bells at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral.
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