国际英语新闻:UN Security Council slams attack against French magazine Charlie Hebdo

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack against the headquarters of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this intolerable terrorist act targeting journalists and a newspaper," said a press statement of the Security Council.

The attack, which the Council called "barbaric and cowardly", took place earlier in the morning, killing at least 12 people, including two policemen, and injuring 11 others with four in critical condition.

The UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa also condemned this attack, saying "every effort must be made to ensure that journalists can do their work in a safe and enabling environment and that crimes against them are prosecuted."

Charlie Hebdo, which is based in Paris' 11th arrondissement, was firebombed in 2011, due to the publishing of a controversial series of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

In its last published cartoons, the weekly mocked Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, which seized major towns in Iraq and Syria.

Shortly after the attack, French President Francois Hollande revealed that several terrorist attacks were stopped in recent weeks in France where anti-terrorism alert vigipirate plan has been raised to the highest level, in greater Paris area, which means a definite threat.

France, home to 5 million Muslims, the largest community in Europe, has been the target of terror threats in reprisal to its operation against Daech group in Iraq and Syria.