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Charlie Hebdo attackers spotted in north-east France after reported service station raid

The two men suspected of attacking satirical paper Charlie Hebdo have been spotted in north-eastern France. Police hon Thursday launched a major manhunt in the area, as France observed a day of mourning for the 12 victims of the assault.

Charlie Hebdo attackers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi
Charlie Hebdo attackers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi securité.interieur.gouv.fr
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The two were spotted driving a white Renault Clio with faces concealed and firearms visible on a road near Villers-Cotterêts in Picardy, according to Le Parisien newspaper, which said they raided a service station at 10.30am.

Police earlier named the suspects as Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, 34 and 32, both French citizens born in Paris and warned that they were “armed and dangerous”.

One of them had dropped his identity card in the stolen Citroen that they abandoned in Paris after fleeing the scene of the murder.

Chérif Kouachi was jailed in 2005 for his part in a network sending would-be jihadis to fight in Iraq.

A third suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, handed himself in to police after seeing his name “circulating on social media”.

He said he was at school at the time of the attack but is still detained because of his links to the two suspects.

Seven people were rounded up overnight in the Paris region, Reims and Strasbourg for questioning over the case.

Despite the attack, Charlie Hebdo will appear next Wednesday, columnist Patrick Pelloux, who is also an emergency room doctor, said on Thursday.

Staff met on Thursday to discuss the future and decided that “stupidity cannot win”, he said.

The print run, which is usually 60,000, is expected to be one million.

Other French media have promised to provide the resources needed to produce it.
 

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