France's Charlie Hebdo holds God cartoon contest 10 years since attack

Charlie Hebdo marks 10 years since deadly attack with God-mocking cartoon contest, sparking controversy and debate.

Ten years after a deadly attack on its office that shocked France, Charlie Hebdo magazine is marking the anniversary with a cartoon contest mocking God, with Sunday as the deadline for submissions. The satirical weekly was targeted by two Islamic extremists on January 7, 2014, who gunned down eight members of staff including some of the country's most famous cartoonists inside its premises in Central Paris.

The attackers — two brothers who were later killed by police — targeted Charlie Hebdo after it decided to publish caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed, Islam's most revered figure. In typically provocative style, the staunchly atheist magazine has invited cartoonists to submit the "funniest and meanest" drawings mocking God possible ahead of the anniversary.

Launching it last month with a deadline of December 15, it addressed a message to "everyone who is fed up with living in a society directed by God and religion. Everyone who is fed up with the so-called good and evil. Everyone who is fed up with religious leaders dictating our lives."

There was no immediate confirmation of how many had been sent for publication.

The attack on Charlie Hebdo fuelled an outpouring of sympathy and a wave of "Je Suis Charlie" ("I Am Charlie") solidarity with its editorial team and famed cartoonists Cabu, Charb, Honore, Tignous, and Wolinski who lost their lives.

The massacre was part of a slew of Islamist-inspired plots that claimed hundreds of lives in France and Western Europe over the following years.

Ahead of the 10th anniversary, the magazine has published a book featuring work by its deceased contributors and the day of the attack is likely to see public tributes.