Charlie Hebdo: Stabbings suspect 'was trying to target magazine'

Paris -- A man suspected of stabbing two people with a meat cleaver in Paris has admitted to deliberately targeting the former offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, French media report.

The man, an 18-year-old born in Pakistan, reportedly linked his actions to the magazine's recent republication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Charlie Hebdo did this as a trial over the 2015 Islamist attack on the magazine which killed 12 people began.

The building in the French capital's 11th district which used to house Charlie Hebdo's offices is now used by a television production company.

The two victims of Friday's attack have not been officially named but police said they were a man and woman who worked at the production company.

Prime Minister Jean Castex told reporters at the scene - near Boulevard Richard-Lenoir - that their lives were not in danger.

The suspect, who was arrested not far from the scene on Friday, had "taken responsibility for his action", sources told AFP, adding that he placed his actions "in the context of the republication of the cartoons".

He has not been named, but French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the teenager arrived in the country three years ago "as an isolated minor" of Pakistani nationality.

Six other people are in police custody over the stabbings, including a former flatmate of the main suspect. One man was released late on Friday after he was confirmed as a witness who had "chased the assailant", reports say.

Colleagues of the victims said they had been outside the Premieres Lignes news production agency smoking a cigarette when they were attacked.