Hunt For Paris Massacre Militants Widens Across The Country

Police take charge of a woman at the scene of a shooting in the street of Montrouge near Paris

France’s Prime Minister said on Thursday that he feared that the Islamist militants who killed 12 people in an attack on a satirical newspaper could strike again as a manhunt for two men widened across the country. Reuters report:

A policewoman was killed in a shootout in southern Paris, but Police sources could not immediately confirm a link with Wednesday’s killings at the Charlie Hebdo weekly newspaper that marked the worst attack on French soil for decades.

National leaders and allied states described the assault on Charlie Hebdo, known for its lampooning of Islam and other religions as well as politicians, as an assault on democracy. The bells of Notre-Dame cathedral rang out during a minute’s silence observed across France and beyond.

Many European newspapers either re-published Charlie Hebdo cartoons or mocked the killers with images of their own.

Montrouge Mayor Pierre Brossollette said the policewoman and a colleague were attending a reported traffic accident when Thursday’s shooting occurred. Witnesses said the assailant fled in a Renault Clio and police sources said he wore a bullet-proof vest and had a handgun and assault rifle.