Mourners honor Charlie Hebdo victims for second night

Thousands of people flocked to the Republic Square in Paris for the second evening in memory of the 12 victims of Wednesday's shooting in Charlie Hebdo weekly.

With candles, pens in hands, and papers written on it "I'm Charlie," the crowd chanted "We are not afraid," defying terrorism threats and defending the freedom of press, according to local reports.

At 20:00 local time (1900 GMT), lights of France's main tourism icon, Eiffel tower was dimmed to honor the victims.

On Thursday, the nation held a day of mourning. One minute's silence was observed all over the country. Bells of Notre Dame de Paris rang at midday. Metro stopped for 60 seconds and flags fly at half-mast for three days in memory of those killed in Paris shooting.

French police's most wanted, Cherif Kouachi, 32 years old, and his 34 years old brother are the main suspects of killing 10 journalists and two policemen in Paris on Wednesday morning in a likely reprisal of putting picture ridiculing the Prophet Mohammed.

According to some reports, Cherif Kouachi had previously been trialed on terrorism charges and served 18 months in prison.

In a further sign of serious terror threat, a 20 years old policewoman was killed, earlier on Thursday, in a shooting in Montrouge, south Paris. A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire on her and a civil employee who was responding to a traffic accident.

Although French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Thursday, during a press conference, that there was no evidence that could indicate connections between these two incidents, they still raised question over the government policy to cope with terror menaces and preserve the country's security after Islamist State urged its followers to attack France in response to its strikes against its targets in Iraq and Syria.

Besides, the attacks may fuel anti-Islam feeling in a country where anti-immigration and far-right party, the Front National is gaining ground. Also, about 5 million Muslims are living in France, the largest community in Europe.

France's Muslim Council called on "all Imams in all of France's mosques to condemn violence and terrorism wherever it comes from in the strongest possible way."

An overnight explosion blew windows of the restaurant at 6:00 local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday in Villefranche-sur-Saone, causing no casualties, regional newspaper Le Progres said, adding that a gas leak would not probably be behind the blast.

"I am afraid that is linked to Wednesday's dramatic incident," Bernard Perrut, mayor of the city, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Three grenades were thrown into the courtyard of a mosque in Mans, west France. One of the grenades exploded, but no injuries were reported.

Cazeneuve reaffirmed Thursday night, during a press conference, French government condemns violence against the mosques and "doesn't tolerate any action or any threat to places of worship."

Manhunt for two fugitives, widened with heavily-armed anti-terrorism units, are carrying out house-to-house searches in the village of Corcy, in Aisne department, northeast France and other villages in Picardie region. So far, nine people are put in custody as part of the investigation on Charlie Hebdo attack.

The French Interior Ministry says 88,000 policemen and gendarmes are deployed all over the country to reinforce security.

Offices of the satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo was fire-bombed in 2011 after printing on its cover pan image of Prophet Mohammad. In its last published cartoons, the weekly mocked Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State who seized major towns in Iraq and Syria.

The magazine plans to print a million copies next Wednesday compared to an average of 30,000 copies despite it lost its best cartoonists in the shooting.

French culture minister, Fleur Pellerin, announced "around 1 million euros (1.179 million US dollar)" to help the magazine and to back freedom of press.