The gunmen who stormed the offices of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris “displayed a degree of skill and calmness that comes only from advanced military training,” The Telegraph reports.

Paris gunmen showed advanced military skills by @davidblairdt http://t.co/LBSa6HtcAq — Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) January 7, 2015

The observation begs the question: were the gunmen part of a military organization such as ISIS or sent by a government with a professionally trained military?

David Blair writes for the newspaper:

They were also fully equipped for their murderous task. Photographs taken at the scene show two men clad entirely in black, their faces concealed by balaclavas. Each one is armed with an AK47 assault rifle. They wear army-style boots and have a military appearance and manner. One of the men wears a sand-colored ammunition vest apparently stuffed with spare magazines. Some reports suggest that an attacker was also carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The attack was purportedly in response to cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammad and Islam.

In 2011, the Charlie Hebdo offices were firebombed and its staff targeted with death threats after a series of cartoons were published.

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