France raised its alert to the highest level, and reinforced security at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Top government officials were holding an emergency meeting.
Paris prosecutor`s spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre confirmed 12 people were killed.
Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers escaped in two vehicles. A witness, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper`s office in central Paris.
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