Al-Qaeda in North Africa threatens more attacks in France

The al-Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has threatened to carry out more attacks on French soil as the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo pushes ahead with publishing Mohammad's cartoons in the upcoming edition.

Hailing the Paris attacks launched by the Kouachi brothers and his friend which resulted in the death of 17 people, the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said France is paying for what it calls anti-Islam policies.

"France is paying the price for its aggression against Muslims and its hostile policy to Islam," the group said in a release.

"As long as its soldiers occupy countries like Mali and the Central African Republic and bombard our people in Syria and Iraq, as its stupid press continues to undermine our prophet, France will see the worst."

French police continue to hunt for at least six suspects who are still at large following the deadly Paris attacks as the French capital remains on alert for possible reprisals.

The al-Qaeda group hailed the perpetrators of the Paris attacks as "the three horsemen of Islam, heroes of the Battle of Paris".

The extremist organisation has confronted French forces in northern Mali on earlier occasions.

The threat has surfaced when Charlie Hebdo has decided to run the depiction of Mohammad, who Muslims consider as Prophet, in the next weekly edition with a print order of three million copies.