France: Blast Hits Restaurant Near Mosque in East
Jeudi matin, avenue Pierre Brossolette à Montrouge.
Blast hits restaurant near mosque in France's east
An explosion has been reported in a restaurant near a mosque in Villefranche-sur-Saone, eastern France. There are no reports of any injuries and the cause of the blast remains unknown.
The blast reportedly occurred around 6 am local time, according to the local newspaper Le Progress. The window of a nearby fast food restaurant was shattered by the explosion.
Police have cordoned off the area, and firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
"I am afraid that is linked to the dramatic event that occurred on Wednesday," the mayor of Villefranche Perrut Bernard, who was at the scene of the blast, told the French daily.
On Wednesday, 10 journalists and two policemen were killed after gunmen opened fire on the Paris office of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
Police have launched a manhunt for three suspects, identified as Said Kouachi, 34, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18.
The youngest suspect, Mourad, reportedly handed himself in at a police station in Charleville Mezieres after seeing his name on the list of shooting suspects on social media.
Thousands of people across the world have reacted to the shooting, which is believed to have been carried out in retaliation to the controversial cartoons by Charlie Hebdo, targeting religion and particularly the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
Police officer wounded in southern Paris shootout: police
A police officer was wounded in a shootout in southern Paris on Thursday, a police source told Reuters, adding that it was unclear at this stage whether there was any link to the killings at the Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Television station iTELE said two police officers were lying on the ground after the attack.
French police are carrying out manhunt for two brothers suspected of killing 12 people on Wednesday at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in a presumed Islamist militant strike.
On Thursday, authorities released photos of the two French nationals still at large, calling them "armed and dangerous."
Seven people have already been arrested in the ongoing investigation, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.
