At least two people were injured on Friday following a knife attack close to the former offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in the French capital Paris, police said.
According to the Paris police department, the two victims were in critical condition. Initial reports had indicated that four people were wounded in the attack.
Police advised the public to avoid the 11th district in eastern Paris where a cordon has been set up.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who had been speaking to reporters when the attack occurred, described the incident as a “serious event”.
Meanwhile, one person was detained near the Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris in connection with the attack. A second suspect has since been arrested; AFP reported quoting a judicial source.
The attack happened as a trial was ongoing against 14 suspects who allegedly aided perpetrators of the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo. 12 people were killed in that attack and a female police officer and four men were also killed by a gunman in the next two days.
Charlie Hebdo had commemorated the beginning of the trial by reprinting controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which sparked protests in several Muslim countries.
The Islamist militant group Al-Qaeda then threatened Charlie Hebdo with a repeat of the attacks on its offices.
Charlie Hebdo’s current office location is kept secret due to security reasons.
A terrorism investigation into the attack has also been opened by French prosecutors.
