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France deploys thousands in hunt for massacre suspects

– Mourning and new jitters –

As the dramatic chase unfolded, bells tolled across France at midday Thursday and people gathered outside the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in pouring rain with banners reading “Je Suis Charlie” (I am Charlie).

The same sign has featured in vigils around the world, from Australia to the United States.

Several thousand people gathered later in Paris for a second night in tribute to those killed as the Eiffel Tower dimmed its lights.

Television footage showed children at a Muslim school in the northern city of Lille holding up sheets of paper emblazoned “not in my name”.

Charlie Hebdo reporter Laurent Leger, who miraculously survived the bloodbath by hiding under a table, gave the first eyewitness account from inside the office. READ: Two suspects in Paris shooting spotted in north France

“I saw a masked man, I saw a lot of blood, I saw half the editorial team on the ground,” he told France Info radio. “I saw horror.”

The gunmen were heard shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest”) as they murdered some of France’s most outspoken journalists, as well as two policemen.

Meanwhile, several other incidents rocked the jittery nation including the fatal shooting of a policewoman just south of Paris.

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Two Muslim places of worship were fired at, prosecutors said, although no casualties were reported.

Declaring Thursday a national day of mourning – only the fifth in the last 50 years – President Francois Hollande called the Charlie Hebdo attack “an act of exceptional barbarity”.

The government also called for large demonstrations to show solidarity across the country on Sunday. Hollande ordered flags to fly at half-mast for three days in France.

France’s main Islamic groups urged imams to condemn terrorism and join rallies against the attacks over the weekend.

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