[quote]Gunmen have attacked the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and injuring seven, French officials say. At least two masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. President Francois Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack "of exceptional barbarity". A major police operation is under way in the Paris area to catch the killers. The latest tweet on Charlie Hebdo's account was a cartoon of the Islamic State militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The satirical weekly has courted controversy in the past with its irreverent take on news and current affairs. The magazine was fire-bombed in November 2011 a day after it carried a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. People had been "murdered in a cowardly manner", President Hollande told reporters at the scene. "We are threatened because we are a country of liberty," he added, appealing for national unity.[/quote] Apparently this is the most violent attack in France since the end of the war. UPDATE: [url]http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30740115[/url] [quote]French police have surrounded a building in a northern town where two men suspected of the Charlie Hebdo massacre are said to have a hostage. On the third day of a manhunt, shots were fired and there are reports of injuries in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) from Paris. The suspected Islamists are reported to have said they are prepared to die. Twelve people were shot dead and 11 injured in the attack on the satirical magazine in the centre of Paris. The suspects, two brothers who intelligence officials have linked to militant groups, shouted Islamist slogans during the shooting and then fled Paris in a hijacked car, heading north. It appears that on Friday they hijacked another car in the town of Montagny-Sainte-Felicite before travelling on to Dammartin. The car's owner recognised them as brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, the key suspects. In a televised statement Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed the men being sought on Friday were those wanted for the Charlie Hebdo attack. "An operation is under way which is set to neutralise the perpetrators of the cowardly attack carried out two days ago," he said.[/quote] UPDATE 2: [quote]French police have stormed two hostage sites in the Paris area, killing three hostage takers. Two brothers suspected in the Charlie Hebdo magazine shootings died in an assault at a warehouse where they had been holding a hostage north of Paris. In the second incident, anti-terror forces stormed a supermarket in eastern Paris where several hostages were being held by a gunman. Four hostages there were killed prior to the police assault, reports say. The hostage taker at the supermarket is believed to be linked to the two Charlie Hebdo suspects. After the police operation started, several hostages could be seen leaving the Hypercacher supermarket. Two police officers were injured in the rescue operation, AP reported. A hostage at the warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris, has also been freed, while a police officer at the scene was injured, AFP news agency said. French President Francois Hollande is expected to address the nation later on Friday.[/quote] Well, I say it's 'all over'; everyone will be wary about copycats for a good while. Or just more attacks in general; there have been a few incidents recently involving lone 'madmen' (as Hollande put it I believe).