The French police have released photos of the two brothers wanted in connection with the attack of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday that left 12 people dead including the editor, three celebrated cartoonists and two police officers.
The gunmen have been identified as Hamyd Mourad, 18, and brothers Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32.
According to the police, an arrest warrant has been issued against the two who are likely to be "armed and dangerous."
A massive manhunt continued for the suspects even as AFP reported that Mourad, the youngest suspect, has surrendered.
A car, carrying the three gunmen, pulled up near Charlie Hebdo’s building and asked a maintenance worker where the magazine office was located. Two of the attackers, wearing masks and carrying AK-47 weapons, got out of the car and opened fire, killing one of the workers.
They stormed the newsroom and killed some of France’s best-known cartoonists.
The gunmen then left the building and drove off with a third suspect, exchanging fire with police. An officer was killed in the final exchange.
The satirical weekly, which has long been in confrontation with Islamists, had published a new cartoon on Twitter only hours before the attack that appeared to show Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, there is no indication that Wednesday’s attack was linked to this.
Media reports said the attackers were heard shouting "Allahu Akbar," and the "prophet was avenged."
French President Francois Hollande, who rushed to the scene of the shooting, described it as a barbaric terrorist attack. "This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about this," he said.
