Rushdie calls Charlie Hebdo attack 'deadly mutation in the heart of Islam'

Condemning the terror attack at the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, British Indian author Salman Rushdie has said that the attack was a sign of the "deadly mutation in the heart of Islam."

When religion combines with modern weaponry, it poses a real threat to "our freedoms," he wrote, reported The Independent.

He expressed solidarity with the magazine by urging people to defend the art of satire, "which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity."

Rushdie was named by Al Qaeda alongside Hebdo's late editor Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, who died in Wednesday's attack, on a list of "most wanted for crimes against Islam" released by the terror group in 2014.

About 12 people died in the shooting at the headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. While one of the gunmen handed himself in, the French police have launched a massive operation to nab the other two.