Details added (first version posted on 15:23)
Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people before escaping, in France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades, AP reported.
French President Francois Hollande said the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which has frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, is "a terrorist attack, without a doubt," and said several other attacks have been thwarted in France "in recent weeks."
France raised its alert to the highest level, and reinforced security at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Top government officials were holding an emergency meeting.
Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre confirmed 12 people were killed.
Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers escaped in two vehicles. A witness, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper's office in central Paris.