Charlie Hebdo Magazine Attackers May Have Links With Al-Qaeda: Reports

Gunmen who attacked French publisher of Charlie Hebdo magazine may be associated with al-Qaeda say eye witnesses.

MOSCOW, January 7 (Sputnik) —The gunmen, who carried out the attack on the editorial office of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, might belong to the al-Qaeda extremist group, French media reported on Wednesday, citing the eyewitnesses to the attack.

One of the witnesses, a real estate agent, Cedric Le Bechec, claimed he saw two armed men get into a black car in the middle of the street in Paris shortly after the attack occurred, the 20 Minutes daily French newspaper said on Wednesday.

Le Bechec pointed out that before the gunmen drove away they said "tell the media that's al-Qaeda from Yemen," according to the French newspaper.

Earlier in the day, cartoonist Corine Rey, who witnessed the attack, told the Humanite newspaper that the gunmen said they were linked to al-Qaeda.

On Wednesday, gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs entered the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in central Paris. They shot dead at least 12 people, most of them staff of the magazine, and reportedly shouted "Allah Akbar" during the assault. According to the French Interior Minister, there were three shooters. The gunmen escaped the area by vehicle and currently remain at large.

The Charlie Hebdo magazine has previously faced threats from radical Islamists and even had it office fire-bombed in 2011 after the magazine published cartoons featuring the prophet Muhammed.