:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/49e4857a-ff31-11ea-8a93-0255c322e81b.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Journalists injured in ‘machete attack’ at former Charlie Hebdo | office Abroad")
French police have made two arrests. One of the suspects was arrested in the area of Place de la Bastille, an important square in the French capital. He was found wearing bloodied clothing. It is still unclear where the second suspect was arrested. It is also unclear what the motive was for the attack.
Prosecutors from the Special Anti-Terrorism Division have opened an investigation. A source within the police reported that a suspicious package had been found after the attack, but that would have been harmless. Two sources confirm that a knife has also been found. One of the sources speaks of a machete, the other of a butcher knife.
At least six stations of the Paris metro have been temporarily closed for safety reasons. The authorities are calling on people to stay away. Some schools in the area have also been closed as a precaution. Prime Minister Jean Castex, Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris and Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin are at the scene.
Press agency
The two victims were taken to hospital in critical condition. The victims, a man and a woman, are said to be employees of the Premières Lignes news agency, French media confirms.
Police were driving through Paris with heavily armed teams and several vans after the incident. “My son was playing sports in the neighborhood,” a witness told Le Parisien. “He heard people shouting and saw a man running away with a large knife. There were injured women and men. We already lived here five years ago, of course, these are traumatic memories. ”
Attacks
In 2015, 12 people were killed in the satirical magazine when Muslim extremists attacked the editorial staff. In France, alleged accomplices of the extremists behind that massacre are now being tried. The French magazine re-published cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed because of the start of that process.
Firefighters take one of the injured to the ambulane.
Ⓒ ANP / HH
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Recently, Al-Qaeda has made new calls to carry out an attack on Charlie Hebdo. According to the police, the background to the incident is not yet known.
At home and abroad, people react with anger to the attack. EU boss Charles Michel, among others, has expressed his support.
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