Security forces were hunting for the gunmen who spoke flawless, unaccented French in the military-style
noon-time attack on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, located near Paris’ Bastille monument. The
publication’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed have frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims.

President Francois Hollande called the slayings "a terrorist attack without a doubt," and said
several other attacks have been thwarted in France "in recent weeks."

France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced protective measures at houses of
worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Schools closed across Paris, although thousands of
people jammed Republique Square near the site of the shooting to honor the victims.

Top government officials held an emergency meeting and Hollande planned a nationally televised address
later Wednesday evening.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which also left four people critically
wounded, and was condemned by world leaders as an attack on freedom of expression, but praised by
supporters of the militant Islamic State group.

Clad all in black with hoods and carrying machine guns, the attackers forced one of the cartoonists
arriving at the office building with her young daughter to open the door with a security code.

The staff was in an editorial meeting and the gunmen headed straight for the paper’s editor, Stephane
Charbonnier — widely known by his pen name Charb — killing him and his police bodyguard first, said
Christophe Crepin, a police union spokesman. Minutes later, two men strolled out to a black car waiting
below, calmly firing on a police officer, with one gunman shooting him in the head as he writhed on the
ground, according to video.

Ten journalists and two police office were killed, Crepin said, including one assigned as Charb’s
bodyguard and another who had arrived on the scene on a mountain bike. Among the dead were Bernard
Maris, an economist who a contributor to the newspaper and was heard regularly on French radio, and
Georges Wolinski, a celebrated cartoonist who also worked for Paris Match magazine.

"Hey! We avenged the Prophet Muhammad! We killed Charlie Hebdo," one of the men shouted in
French, according to a video shot from a nearby building and broadcast on French TV. Other video showed
two gunmen in black at a crossroads who appeared to fire down one of the streets. A cry of "Allahu
akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great"— could be heard among the gunshots.

The video showed the killers moving deliberately and calmly. One even bent over to toss a fallen shoe
back into the small black car before it sped off. The car was later found abandoned in northern Paris,
police said.

Luc Poignant of the SBP police union said the attackers switched to another vehicle that had been stolen.

Corinne Rey, the cartoonist who said she was forced to let the gunmen in, said the men spoke fluent
French and claimed to be from al-Qaida. In an interview with the newspaper l’Humanite, she said the
entire shooting lasted perhaps five minutes.

The security analyst group Stratfor said the gunmen appeared to be well-trained, "from the way they
handled their weapons, moved and shot. These attackers conducted a successful attack, using what they
knew, instead of attempting to conduct an attack beyond their capability, failing as a result."

Both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have repeatedly threatened to attack France. Just minutes
before the attack, Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of the Islamic State’s leader giving
New Year’s wishes.

Charlie Hebdo has been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other
sketches. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after an issue featured a caricature of the prophet on its
cover. Nearly a year later, the publication again published Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations
from the Muslim world because Islam prohibits the publication of drawings of its founder.

Another cartoon, released in this week’s issue and entitled "Still No Attacks in France," had a
caricature of a jihadi fighter saying "Just wait — we have until the end of January to present our
New Year’s wishes." Charb was the artist.

"This is the darkest day of the history of the French press," said Christophe DeLoire of
Reporters Without Borders.

In the winter 2014 edition of the al-Qaida magazine Inspire, a so-called chief describing where to use a
new bomb said: "Of course the first priority and the main focus should be on America, then the
United Kingdom, then France and so on."

In 2013, the magazine specifically threatened Charb and included an article titled "France the
Imbecile Invader."

An al-Qaida tweeter who communicated Wednesday with AP said the group is not claiming responsibility, but
called the attack "inspiring."

President Barack Obama offered U.S. help in pursuing the gunmen. In a statement, he offered prayers and
support for France, which he called "America’s oldest ally."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country stood united with France,

"We stand squarely for free speech and democracy. These people will never be able to take us off
those values," Cameron said in the House of Commons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the attack as a "cynical crime," and pledged
cooperation in fighting terrorism,

Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Union of French mosques, condemned the "hateful act," and
urged Muslims and Christians "to intensify their actions to give more strength to this dialogue, to
make a united front against extremism."

On social media, supporters of militant Islamic groups praised the move. One self-described Tunisian
loyalist of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group tweeted that the attack was well-deserved revenge
against France.

Elsewhere on the Internet, the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie was trending as people expressed support for weekly
and for journalistic freedom.

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Associated Press writers Samuel Petrequin, Angela Charlton, Sylvie Corbet and John Leicester contributed
from Paris; Sarah el-Deeb contributed from Cairo.