It has been more that a week after two Islamist gunmen stormed the Charlie Hebdo headquarters armed with high-powered weapons and an RPG, killing 12 people on the process including a police officer. The attack was condemned by the whole world and sparked a worldwide indignation about discourses of free speech. However, it appears that Charlie Hebdo will not bow down to these attacks and intimidation, in fact the satirical newspaper decided to put on its front page a picture of the Prophet Muhammad with words "All is forgiven."
Hours after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters, supporters of free speech poured all their emotions on several social media outlets. On Twitter, the hastag "Je suis Charlie" which means "I am Charlie" in English topped Twitters hashtag list on the Jan. 7, the day of the attack. The next day, it was reported to have been used more than 3.4 million times and is being used more than 6,500 times every minute, on Friday according to Twitter; the hashtag has been used more than five million times.
The French polices' immediate crackdown on the suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack led to the death of the three suspects when they were apprehended on a supermarket. The French police also reported that more than six members of the terrorist group who might have directly helped the three were also being monitored.
Recent attacks on French soil prompted the government to deploy more forces in order to contain the situation and assure its people of their safety. Police forces were deployed to protect important locations including Jewish schools.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Defense Minister said that "We have decided to mobilise 10,000 men to protect sensitive sites in the whole country from tomorrow evening. This is the first time that our troops have been mobilized to such an extent on our own soil."
