(Bloomberg) -- France was put on the highest terrorist alert after one of the country’s deadliest attacks since World War II killed at least 12 people in shootings at the office of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in eastern Paris.

Two people dressed in black and carrying firearms, including AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, entered the offices of the magazine on rue Nicolas Appert, shooting at random. At least one shouted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic. The magazine’s most renowned cartoonists -- Cabu, Charb, Tignous and Wolinski -- were among the dead, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. Eight people were injured. Four of them are in critical condition. The shooters remain at large.

“France is in a state of shock after this terrorist attack,” French President Francois Hollande told reporters. “An act of exceptional barbarity has been perpetrated against a newspaper, against liberty of expression, against journalists.”

The three assailants, including a driver, fled from Charlie Hebdo in a Citroen C3, headed toward Porte de Pantin on the northern edge of Paris, where police lost track of them, according to Emmanuel Quemener from the police union Alliance.

An injured person is transported to an ambulance after the shooting. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Hollande said all potential terrorist targets across France have been put under the highest protection, adding that several possible incidents had been foiled in recent weeks. He will address the nation tonight. Rallies to show support for Charlie Hebdo are planned in cities across France today.

‘Madness’

France’s last major terrorist violence came in 1995, when bombings struck public places between July and October, including the Saint Michel metro station in the heart of Paris. Bombs also exploded in the Place de l’Etoile. In all, eight were killed and about 200 were injured. The bombings were blamed on an Algerian rebel group.

“We can’t accept this madness,” said Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Mosque of Paris. “We want to live in peace.”

The attacks drew condemnation from across the world. U.S. President Barack Obama offered French authorities assistance to investigate the shooting. Prime Minister David Cameron called the attacks “barbaric,” saying the U.K. stands united with the French people in its opposition to all forms of terrorism.’’

Most of today’s victims were part of the magazine’s newsroom, said Matthieu Lamarre, a spokesman for the Paris mayor’s office. One of the dead is a police officer, he said.

Charlie Hebdo

In this 2012 photo, Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, the publishing director of the satyric weekly Charlie Hebdo, displays the front page of the publication. Charb is among the 12 dead in today's shooting. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Charlie Hebdo’s cover this week is on “Submission,” a book by Michel Houellebecq released today, which is sparking controversy with its depiction of a fictional France of the future led by an Islamic party and a Muslim president who bans women from the workplace.

Also today, the magazine on its Twitter account posted a cartoon depicting Islamic State Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed in November 2011 after it published a special edition featuring the Prophet Mohammed as a “guest editor.” The fire caused no injuries.

Charlie Hebdo is located in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, a former working-class neighborhood that is becoming increasingly fashionable. The glass-and-concrete four-story modern building is on a quiet street off leafy, broad Richard Lenoir boulevard, leading to the Bastille square. The newspaper is owned by Les Editions Rotatives, a holding controlled by some of its reporters, and managers.

Houellebecq’s Book

In his sixth novel, Houellebecq plays on fears that western societies are being inundated by the influence of Islam, a worry that this month drew thousands in anti-Islamist protests in Germany. In the novel, Houellebecq has the imaginary “Muslim Fraternity” party winning a presidential election in France against the nationalist, anti-immigration National Front.

Houellebecq’s book is set in France in 2022. It has the fictional Muslim Fraternity’s chief, Mohammed Ben Abbes, beating National Front Leader Marine Le Pen, with Socialists, centrists, and Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party rallying behind him to block the National Front.

Ben Abbes goes on to ban women in the workplace, advocates polygamy, pushes Islamic schools on the masses and imposes a conservative and religious vision of society. The French widely accept the new environment, hence the book’s title.

France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population, with more than 5 million people of the faith out of a population of about 65 million, a number that’s been growing with children and grandchildren of 20th-century immigrants. Very few Muslims have reached top-level jobs in France, and second-and- third- generation French people of Arab descent say they often face discrimination.

French Troops

The fear of Islamization has traction in France with opinion polls showing the anti-immigration Le Pen would lead in the first round of the 2017 presidential race. The party topped the Socialist party and UMP in last year’s European elections. It may score well again in this year’s local ballots.

The attack comes against the backdrop of French military actions in Africa and the Middle East to combat Islamic groups.

The French army currently has two overseas operations, with about 3,800 troops. Its forces began fighting in the Sahel region of Africa -- spanning Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Burkina Fasso and Niger -- in 2013. France also joined the U.S. in fighting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

About 800 soldiers are stationed in the Middle East for the operation and France is bombing the group in Iraq.

--With assistance from Angeline Benoit, Marie Mawad, Gregory Viscusi and Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris.

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Paris on highest terrorism alert after 12 killed in attack on magazine

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