Charlie Hebdo celebrates 2.5 million copies comeback with 'Here we go again' cover

Charlie Hebdo celebrates its comeback with a cover that pays tribute to its tradition of stirring controversy through satire in the second issue of the magazine to hit the stands since members of its staff was killed by Islamist shooters in Paris in January.

The next edition of the French paper is to appear on 25 February and will mark its weekly return after six weeks of suspension that followed the release of the "survivors' issue" published days after the attack.

Revealed by newspaper Liberation, whose offices have been hosting Charlie Hebdo staff since the killings, the front page cartoon depicts a dog representing the magazine, chased by a mob of its usual critics, including Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy, the Pope and a jihadist fighter - also portrayed as dogs.

"Here we go again!" the caption reads.

The cartoon was drawn by Luz, who had also signed the previous cover, which defiantly depicted Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

"We have to talk about Charlie's comeback, to say that Charlie is starting to do its work again, its work against stupidity, against FN [National Front]," Liberation quoted him as saying during the editorial meeting discussing the cover.

Twelve people, including five celebrated cartoonists, were shot dead as two Islamist gunmen stormed the Charlie Hebdo offices.

Said and Cherif Kouachi, the brothers who carried out the attack, claimed they were on a mission to "avenge" the prophet for mocking cartoons published by the magazine in previous years.

More than two-and-a-half-million copies of the new issue, which features new cartoonists including Dilem and Pétillon, are to be printed.

Before the attack, the magazine was struggling with finances and had a circulation of about 60,000.

The shootings resulted in a booming resurrection of the paper, with eight million copies of the survivors' issue sold around the world.