Unidentified gunmen killed at least one person and wounded three police officers after opening fire overnight on a cultural centre in Copenhagen hosting a debate on Islam and free speech.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks - the author of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons that sparked worldwide protests in 2007 - was among those at the debate targeted by two gunmen who then fled the scene.

Danish Prime Minister Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt described the assault as "a terrorist attack" as Danish television showed the windows of the Krudttonden cultural centre pock marked by multiple bullet holes.

French ambassador to Denmark Francois Zimeray, who had been present at the debate but was not hurt, told AFP the shooting was an attempt to replicate the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris.

"They shot from the outside (and) had the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, only they didn't manage to get in," he said by telephone from the venue.

"Intuitively I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200," he told AFP.

"Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor."


Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the author of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons that sparked worldwide protests in 2007, is pictured on January 3, 2012 in Nyhamnslage, Sweden: Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the author of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons that sparked worldwide protests in 2007.   © AFP Photo Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the author of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons that sparked worldwide protests in 2007.   

A statement by Danish police said "an unidentified man died after having been hit by bullets" in the strike, and three officers were wounded in the shooting.

Police also said the Volkswagen Polo the two suspected assailants fled the scene in was found abandoned around two hours after the attack.

Specialists commenting on the attack in initial media reports said it was likely automatic rifles were used in the strike in order to fire as many rounds in a short period of time.

The assault comes at a time of heightened security and rising fears of Islamist attacks, following January 7 and 9 incidents in Paris that left 17 people dead.

A series of anti-terror sweeps have been carried out across Europe since mid-January, resulting in the arrests of dozens of suspected jihadist and seizures of large stocks of weapons and explosives.

'Bullets went through doors'

Those included January 17 raids in Belgium that thwarted what police called imminent "terrorist attacks to kill police officers on public roads and in police stations".

Two suspects were killed fighting Belgian police in those sweeps.

Charlie Hebdo raised the ire of Islamist extremists by republishing cartoons by Vilks and other caricatures, and periodically satirising Islam on its own in later editions.
 

Vilks has been under police protection since his earlier controversial cartoons were published.

Concern of renewed attacks targeting symbols of press liberties and freedom of expression have been growing since the Charlie Hebdo strike, Reporters Without Borders secretary general Christophe Deloire told AFP after the Copenhagen assault.

"It's something that we feared after Charlie Hebdo. We see that ultra-radical groups are leading a war against freedom of expression, against the freedom to be irreverent about religion and against the simple freedom to debate them," Deloire said.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned what he called a "terrorist attack targeting a public meeting", saying in a statement that France "remains by the side of the Danish authorities and people in the fight against terrorism".

The French president's office said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was headed to the scene.

I predict "it's got nothing to do with islam" will be the most repeated phrase of 2015, so I'm going to start abbreviating it to IGNTDWI.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the rule of a Shi'ite Muslim fighters whose gunmen fired on protesters in the central town of Ibb and wounded four, medics said.

It was the second day of nationwide demonstrations against the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in less then a week after its dissolution of parliament this month unraveled security and sent Western and Arab embassies packing.

Activists said they were enraged by the death on Saturday of Saleh al-Bashiri, who they say was detained by gunmen as they broke up an anti-Houthi protest in Sanaa two weeks ago and was released to a hospital with signs of torture on his body on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Yemen's upheaval has drawn international concern as it shares a long border with top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia, and the country is also fighting one of the most formidable branches of al Qaeda with the help of U.S. drone strikes.

Heavy clashes between Houthi fighters and Sunni Muslim tribesmen fighting alongside Al Qaeda militants in the southern mountainous province of al-Bayda on Saturday killed 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters.

The state faces collapse in impoverished, strife-torn Yemen two weeks after the Houthis took formal control of the country and continued an armed push southward.

France, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia have closed their missions in the capital Sanaa and withdrawn staff, citing security concerns.

Spain and the United Arab Emirates announced the closure of their embassies in Sanaa on Saturday.

The United Arab Emirates' state news agency WAM cited "the increasing deterioration of the political and security situation Yemen is witnessing and the tragic events after the Houthis undermined the legitimate authority."

Yemen's rich Sunni Gulf Arab neighbors loathe the Houthi fighters and have called their rise to power a "coup."

The embassy closures have isolated Yemen's new rulers and lent urgency to struggling talks over internal power-sharing which the Houthis are conducting with opposition parties.

Hailing their advance as a "revolution" aimed at corrupt officials and economic ruin, the Houthis dissolved parliament and set up their own ruling body earlier this month.

The Houthis' spread from the north to Yemen's well-armed tribal regions in the east and south has led locals to make common cause with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the deadliest arms of the global militant organization.

I'm waiting for Gandalf to blame me for posting muzzies actions.

Or saying it is 'misbehaviour'.............

haha yeah nice try buddy,