Charlie Hebdo to release special issue one year after attack

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo said it would release nearly a million copies of a special issue to mark a year since jihadists killed a dozen people in its Paris offices.

The 32-page double issue - featuring a selection of drawings by the cartoonists who died in the attack, as well as by current staff and messages of support - will be released on January 6.

The provocative weekly became a household name when two Islamist brothers gunned down 12 people at its offices over its cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed.

A survivors' edition released a week after the January 7, 2014, attacks sold a record 7.5 million copies and boosted the magazine's circulation.

Charlie Hebdo yesterday said it had already received large orders for the new special issue from overseas, including 50,000 from Germany.

Currently it sells around 10,000 copies internationally and about 100,000 in French newsagents, along with some 183,000 subscriptions.

The release comes at a time of heightened concern about more attacks in Europe after jihadists with links to the Islamic State group killed 130 people in Paris in November, in a wave of coordinated shootings and explosions.

Yesterday, Brussels cancelled its New Years's Eve festivities over fears Islamists could be planning attacks on the city of 1.2 million, which is home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO.