France is mourning the murder of 12 people in a terror attack earlier this week when masked gunmen stormed the offices of a Paris magazine and killed journalists, cartoonists, and police officers.

Witnesses said the shooters in Wednesday’s attack shouted “Allahu akbar”, which means “God is greatest”, between rounds of gunfire. The gunmen were reported to be retaliating against a caricature of Islamic Prophet Muhammad made by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. French security alert was at its highest as the manhunt continues for two of the three gunmen.

French police officials have identified the suspects as Frenchmen Said and Cherif Kouachi, brothers both in their early 30s. A third person wanted by police, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, turned himself in.

Charlie Hebdo has courted controversy in the past with its take on news and current affairs. It was hacked and even fire-bombed in Nov. 2011, a day after it carried a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

CCTV correspondent Jack Parrock reported the latest events in Paris.

The Heat’s Anand Naidoo interviewed a panel of experts about the recent terror attack:

• Stanislas de Saint-Hippolyte, a Washington D.C. correspondent for the France 24 news network.
• Cedric Leighton, a terrorism expert who runs a crisis-management firm.
• Manal Omar, the acting vice president at the Center for Middle East and Africa at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
• Frank Romano, a peace activist and an active member of a multi-faith group in Paris.

The panel continues: