Dragnet closing on suspects as manhunt by terror police zeroes in on area of north France

French imams denounce massacre, warning that world is a dangerous place without freedom of expression

National Front leader urges people to wake up to the threat of Islamic fundamentalism


Revenge attacks on Muslim places of worship have begun in France following yesterday's massacre at the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

Mosques, a prayer hall and a kebab shop near a Muslim temple were targeted in the early hours of the morning following the terrorist attack - in which 12 people were murdered by suspected Islamist fanatics.

The retaliation comes as French citizens, and the international community, attempt to come to terms with yesterday's shocking and deadly assault on free speech.

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Blown up: Police investigators at the scene after the attack at the shop near el Houda mosque in Villefranche-sur-Saone, near Lyon

Targeted: French police and investigators inspect the scene near Lyon this morning where a kebab shop next to a mosque was blown up

No casualties: No-one was hurt when a kebab shop, located near a mosque in the eastern French town of Villefranche-sur-Saone, was also blown up

In the city of Le Mans, west of Paris, three blank grenades were thrown at a mosque shortly after midnight - and a bullet was also fired through one of the windows.

In the Port-la-Nouvelle district, near Narbonne in southern France, several shots were fired in the direction of a Muslim prayer hall shortly after evening prayers.

According to French prosecutors, the hall was empty and no-one was injured.

A kebab shop, located near a mosque in the eastern French town of Villefranche-sur-Saone, was also blown up. Again, there were no casualties.

Shop targeted: The incident at the kebab shop was one of several suspected revenge attacks to have taken place in France following the massacre in Paris

Revenge attacks: Map shows three incidents that took place last night and in the early hours of the morning across France

Retaliation: The kebab shop was targeted following yesterday's attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo

Eight journalists - including the magazine's editor - died in yesterday's attack, along with two policemen, a maintenance worker and another visitor when the masked terrorists stormed the Charlie Hebdo offices in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

The magazine has become a byword for offensive statements in France after taking several highly provocative swipes at Islam.

The newspaper once named Prophet Mohammed as its guest editor, published cartoons of the holy figure in the nude, and once renamed itself Sharia Hebdo with the cover slogan '100 lashes if you don't die of laughter'.

Shots fired: A bullet hole in the window of a prayer room at a mosque in the Sablons neighbourhood of Le Mans, western France

Country on edge: Specially trained officers are working with French police after three blank grenades were thrown at a mosque in Le Mans

Bomb scare: A police officer directs a man away from the mosque where blank grenades were discovered - no one was injured in the incident

On guard: Police in the city of Le Mans, west of Paris, where three blank grenades were thrown at a mosque shortly after midnight - and a bullet was also fired through one of the windows

Today, four leading French imams denounced the massacre, warning that the world is a dangerous place without freedom of expression but urging the media to be respectful of religion.

Djelloul Seddiki, head of the great mosque of Paris; Tareq Oubrou, director of the Bordeaux mosque; Azzedine Gaci of the Villeurbanne mosque; and Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Union of Mosques in France, joined Pope Francis in condemning the cruelty of the attack.

Tonight, two armed suspects wanted over the massacre - believed to be brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi - were being pursued through woodland as a huge manhunt closed in on a forest.

In their sights: Swarms of anti-terror police with automatic weapons, body armour and shields patrol the tiny village of Longpont in northern France as they close in on two prime suspects in the terror attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris which left 12 people dead

Terrified: Residents of the tiny village of Longpont speak to riot officers as they comb the area for the Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects

Hunt: A member of the French National Police Intervention Group is near Villers-Cotterêts where the suspects are believed to have fled on foot

Suspects: The three men were named as Cherif Kouachi (left), 32, his brother Said Kouachi (right), 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers

Faces of the victims: Among the journalists killed were (l to r) Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier, who is also editor-in-chief, and Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous

Merciless: Two masked men brandishing AK47s shot a French police officer in the head yesterday after storming the offices of Charlie Hebdo

Police believe they have tracked down the brothers to a remote area about 50 miles north-east of Paris after they reportedly robbed a nearby petrol station.

Officers are said to have found a Molotov cocktail bomb and jihadist flag in the car of Cherif and Said Kouachi, which they abandoned before fleeing.

The men, still armed, headed on foot into the vast Forêt de Retz (Retz Forest) that measures 32,000 acres, an area roughly the size of Paris.

Sickening: The masked murderers take aim at a police car on the scene after killing 11 other people

Desperate: An injured man was pictured being removed from Charlie Hebdo's office yesterday

Their alleged getaway driver Hamyd Mourad, 18, has already turned himself into police in Charleville-Mezieres in northern France.

All three French-Algerian Muslims escaped yesterday following the bloodbath.

French Muslims have expressed fears that the sickening attack will lead to a surge in people joining the country's far-right movement Front National.

Politician Marine LePen, leader of the surging far-right National Front, urged the country's residents to wake up to the threat of Islamic fundamentalism.

But some of the most vocal rightist responses to the massacre came from Germany.

Gathering: People at the Place Royale in Nantes show their solidarity for the victims of the attack on the offices of the satirical weekly

Standing together: People hold placards reading in French 'I am Charlie' during a gathering at the Place de la Republique last night

Silence: General Secretary of the Elysee Palace Jean-Pierre Jouyet and the Elysee Palace staff observe a minute of silence for victims of the shooting this morning

A leader of the far-right National Democratic Party, or NPD, said the party would mobilise followers to join anti-Islam street protests in the eastern city of Dresden that have been growing in size over the past three months.

Houria Bouteldja, spokeswoman for Parti des Indigènes de la République (PIR), told Al Jazeera: 'This is a veritable nightmare for the Muslim community, but a veritable windfall for the extreme-right parties that will exploit this appalling crime.'

The PIR party represents the interests of people from many of France's predominantly Muslim former colonies in Africa and elsewhere.

She added: 'The people who committed this crime have committed a crime not only against Charlie Hebdo, but also against the Muslim community.'

A minute's silence was held across France in memory of the victims of yesterday's atrocity as the newspaper defiantly vowed to publish next week's edition.

Police: Dozens of anti-terror officers surround an apartment in Reims, where suspects have been arrested in connection with the Charlie Hebdo attack

Second incident : It is thought the assailant in this morning's attack used an M5 assault rifle in the attack, before fleeing the scene wearing a 'bullet-proof vest'

In a separate disturbing development, a gunman was arrested in a Paris suburb this morning after a female police officer was shot dead and a colleague injured in a second attack.

Shots rang out in Montrouge, in the south of city, at the start of the morning rush hour, with an M5 assault rifle believed to have been used.

Witnesses saw what appeared to a collision between two cars, followed by two men appearing with the weapon.

The gunman - who is understood to have been armed with an M5 assault rifle - was described as appearing to be of North African descent.

The young policewoman has been named by French media as Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27.

A second victim - a street cleaner who was shot in the face after he confronted the gunman - is said to be in a serious condition.

Pictured: French media identified this woman as Clarissa Jean-Philippe, the young policewoman who was gunned down as she attended a routine traffic accident in Montrouge at 8am today

Disturbing: A bullet found at the scene in Montrouge after two people were shot in the street at about 8am