PARIS woke up with a terrorism hangover, stunned and shocked and horrified by the brutal and cowardly attacks, mourning the loss of their family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers and compatriots. God's blessings on France as the nation struggles to cope with the terrorism that has shattered their lives. This is the third update post, the second can be found here and the first is here. Not glorifying isis, this is a very good article explaining what they want. From the +Washington Post , click Live Update below to go directly to the site.....
French president calls Paris attacks ‘act of war’ by Islamic State
In
an address on Saturday, Nov. 14, French President Francois Hollande
said the attacks in Paris that killed 127 people were "an act of war"
organized from abroad by Islamic State with internal help. (Reuters)
PARIS —
France’s president decried the bloodshed across Paris as an “act of
war” Saturday, as authorities across Europe joined forces with raids and
investigations after attacks that killed at least 129 people and
sharply raised the stakes in battles against the Islamic State.
Just minutes after the tough declarations by President François Hollande, the Islamic State asserted
responsibility for the worst attacks in France since World War II and
among of the most deadly terrorist strikes on Western soil since Sept.
11, 2001.
Friday’s carnage by seven known
attackers also further reinforced worries of expanded Islamic State
reach through recruitment and propaganda, and apparent evolving tactics
that include commando-style raids.
At least one American — a university student on a semester abroad — was among the dead.
As
part of a rapid and widening developments, police in neighboring
Belgium arrested several suspects in connection with the Paris attacks,
the country’s justice minister, Koen Geens, told VRT television after a
raid in a Brussels district that includes a large immigrant community
from Morocco and Turkey.
In France,
meanwhile, one of the attackers was identified as a French national who
was known to authorities, according to two French officials familiar
with the case.
And in Greece, authorities
said a Syrian passport found at a Paris attack site was carried by a man
who passed through an Aegean island last month.
Left behind in Paris were the latest scars, said Pope Francis, from the “piecemeal Third World War.”
More
than 350 people were wounded — including at least three Americans —
with about 100 suffering serious injuries, U.S. and French officials
said. The Paris prosecutor’s office set the latest death toll at 129.
It
includes Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, a student at California State University,
Long Beach, said a statement from the school. Gonzalez, of El Monte,
Calif., was in Paris studying design during a semester abroad, said the
statement.
Initial reports of a higher
overall death count were revised down after authorities received a full
accounting from the various attack sites — where mourners left flowers,
candles and notes of sympathy beside police tape and barricades.
All
seven attackers died: six in suicide blasts while the seventh — also
wearing explosives — was shot by police. French officials managed to
recover fingerprints from at least four of the men and European law
enforcement agencies were seeking possible matches.
Other clues were followed.
A
discarded Syrian passport was found at the site of the stadium attack.
The name on the passport, whose owner was born in Idlib, Syria, was
passed on to security services, but it remained unclear whether it
belonged to one of the assailants, according to two senior European
security officials.
On Saturday, Greece’s
civil protection agency confirmed the passport holder had arrived on
the island of Leros, most likely from Turkey, on Oct. 3. A copy of the
person’s fingerprint was sent to French authorities.
Possible
links to the unprecedented waves of refugees crossing into Europe could
open fresh debate over potential security risks as Europe struggles
with the exodus from places such as war-ravaged Syria and Iraq, where
the Islamic State holds territory.
“Confronted
with war, the country must make the appropriate decision,” Hollande
said, suggesting a stronger French response against the Islamic State.
Other nations have hit the group with recent blows. In Libya, a U.S. airstrike was believed to have killed the leader
of the Islamic State’s branch in the North African nation, a U.S.
official said after a mission that was apparently set in motion before
the Paris massacres.
Hollande
called an emergency cabinet meeting amid dramatically stepped up
security after the multi-pronged attack on seven sites — including a
soccer match, a rock concert and crowds at bars and restaurants at the
beginning of the weekend.
France declared three days of national mourning and, for security reasons, banned public gatherings through Thursday.
Paris
landmarks became ghost towns. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles
and Paris Disneyland were shut down for the day. So were government
buildings, schools, libraries, food markets, swimming pools and
gymnasiums.
A timeline of the attacks
indicated the siege began after explosions erupted at the Stade de
France — the city’s main sports stadium — at 9:20 p.m. local time as
Hollande and other dignitaries were watching a match between France and
Germany.
Almost at the same time, gunfire
went off 4.2 miles south of the stadium, at the Le Carillon bar, and
then at a Cambodian restaurant across the street, in the city’s 10th
Arrondissement. At 9:32 p.m., shots flew out at a pizzeria in the same
district, followed by further attacks on two other restaurants — the
Belle Equipe and the Brasserie Le Comptoir Voltaire, according to French
BFM TV.
Then
at 9:49 p.m., the attack at the 19th century Bataclan, one of the
city’s most famous music venues, unfolded. Hundreds of people had
gathered for a show by an American band, Eagles of Death Metal. Four
assailants opened fire inside the concert hall. Inside, hidden
concert-goers sent out panicked tweets and Facebook messages begging for
a police rescue.
“A bloodbath,” Julien Pearce told CNN. The attackers were shooting “as if we were birds,” he added.
The
Islamic State’s claim of responsibility — issued on its internal social
media site — said the targets were “precisely chosen targets in the
center of the capital of France” and specifically mentioned Hollande’s
appearance at the soccer match.
“Let
France and all nations following its path know that they will continue
to be at the top of the target list of the Islamic State,” it said.
In
the past weeks, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for
strikes including twin bombings in Beirut on Thursday that claimed at
least 41 lives, and the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian passenger plane in
Egypt that killed all 224 aboard. Authorities, however, have not yet
determined a cause for the crash.
The Paris bloodshed also followed potential blows to the Islamic State in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier
Friday, Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led warplanes cut off a key
supply line for the Islamic State in northern Iraq, and the Pentagon
said a drone strike targeted an infamous Islamic State executioner, the
British-raised Mohammed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John.” A U.S.
military spokesman said the officials were “reasonably certain” that
Emwazi was killed.
Meanwhile,
details emerging after the Paris attack also suggested the planning
went beyond French borders. Police in Bavaria arrested a man a few days
ago who German authorities believe could be linked to the Paris attacks.
Bavarian
Interior Minister Joachim Hermann told local broadcaster Bayerischer
Rundfunk that “several weapons and also Kalashnikovs” had been found in
the car of a man arrested on the highway from Salzburg to Munich.
“The
investigations have shown that the driver apparently was on the way to
France,” Hermann said. “Whether there is a direct link with the terror
attacks has to be investigated.”
The
Bavarian police did not immediately provide further details, but,
according to the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the man arrested was a 51
year-old from Montenegro. In addition to several firearms, police had
also found explosives in his car.
The fallout quickly rippled across Europe and beyond.
Border
checks were imposed on European frontiers that are normally wide open,
and European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged
support to France.
A terminal at Britain’s
Gatwick airport was evacuated after a possible firearm was found amid
heightened surveillance. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, canceled a
trip to Italy and France in the wake of the attacks.
Extra security measures took effect across major American cities.
“This
is Europe now,” said an air passenger from Spain, Marina Alcon, after
being herded into a newly created line for passport checks at Charles de
Gaulle Airport outside Paris.
And even as
France tries to rebound from Friday’s chaos, its security chiefs must
look ahead to the huge task of hosting world leaders, including
President Obama, at a climate summit later this month. France insisted
there were no plans to cancel the gathering.
In
Vienna, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov cut short a private meeting before a conference on the
crisis in Syria, where Russia began military operations in September to
back the embattled government.
“We are in
absolute and total agreement that these kinds of attacks are the most
vile, horrendous, outrageous unacceptable acts on the planet,” said
Kerry said.
“And the one thing we can say
to those people is that what they do in this is stiffen our resolve —
all of us — to fight back,” he said.
Friday
was the second time this year that the City of Light has been a scene
of mass murder; in January, Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, leaving a total of 17 dead.
“It
was very quiet at the train station this morning,” said Matiau Pons, a
day after he watched police race to one of the attack sites and then
holed up at home as the horrors unfolded. “It was silence. Very heavy.”
For
Toronto native Max Mandel, the somber mood rekindled memories amid the
rubble of the Twin Towers. “I was in New York on 9/11,” he said. “So it
was a familiar feeling.”
Karla
Adam, Cléophée Demoustier and Virgile Demoustier in Paris, Erin
Cunningham in Cairo, Karen DeYoung in Vienna, and Brian Murphy in
Washington contributed to this report.
Read more: French President Hollande's remarks after Paris attacks
The Bataclan theater, the epicenter of the terror attacks in Paris
Maps: Where the Paris attacks occurred
Anthony
Faiola is The Post's Berlin bureau chief. Faiola joined the Post in
1994, since then reporting for the paper from six continents and serving
as bureau chief in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, New York and London.
Souad Mekhennet, co-author of “The Eternal Nazi,” is a correspondent on the national security desk.
Live updates: Attacks in Paris
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’s executive director Nihad Awad spoke out about the Paris massacre, saying the Islamic State has been “launching a war on many Muslims” as well as those who oppose their politics.
“We are revolted by this heinous and despicable attack on civilian populations,” he said, adding that the response to the Islamic State’s actions should be “swift,” “methodical” and “principled.”The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly siege that killed at least 129 people.
In his speech, Awad was clear that the Islamic State does not represent the Muslim population.
“The majority of the victims of [Islamic State] attacks are Muslim, and Muslims worldwide — in the U.S., in Europe, in the Middle East — have condemned and have continued to condemn the brutal nature of this terrorist organization.”
Police Nationale
Par respect pour les victimes et leurs familles, ne contribuez pas à la diffusion des photos des scènes de crime #AttackParis #fusillade
French police on Sunday urged the public to not spread crime scene photos “out of respect for the victims and their families.”
Flags at the @uscapitol are now flying at half-staff in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks.
House
Speaker Paul Ryan ordered that the flags flying at the U.S. Capitol be
lowered to half-staff “in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks,” he
announced Sunday.
G20 Live
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested a moment of silence on Sunday
at the Group of 20 Summit to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks
in Paris.
President Obama met with Erdogan when he arrived at the summit, and the two presented a united front against an attack last month in Ankara, the Turkish capital, and the recent massacre in Paris.
“The skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris,” Obama said. Referring to the twin bombing in Ankara last month, which killed more than 100 people, he added that “the killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is not just an attack on France, not just an attack on Turkey, but an attack on the civilized world. . . . We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice.”
President Obama met with Erdogan when he arrived at the summit, and the two presented a united front against an attack last month in Ankara, the Turkish capital, and the recent massacre in Paris.
“The skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris,” Obama said. Referring to the twin bombing in Ankara last month, which killed more than 100 people, he added that “the killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is not just an attack on France, not just an attack on Turkey, but an attack on the civilized world. . . . We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice.”
Pope
Francis said in his Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square that “the road
of violence and hate does not resolve the problems of humanity.”
Some survivors of the terrorist attacks said the gunmen shouted “Allah hu Akbar” (“God is great”) in Arabic.
“Using God’s name to justify this path is blasphemy,” Francis said, calling the “intolerable” acts of violence an “affront to the dignity of the human person.”
Read more here on The Washington Post’s Acts of Faith blog.
Some survivors of the terrorist attacks said the gunmen shouted “Allah hu Akbar” (“God is great”) in Arabic.
“Using God’s name to justify this path is blasphemy,” Francis said, calling the “intolerable” acts of violence an “affront to the dignity of the human person.”
Read more here on The Washington Post’s Acts of Faith blog.
President Obama talked about terrorism at the Group of 20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Sunday, discussing last month’s twin bombing in Ankara and the massacre in Paris on Friday.
“The killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it’s an attack on the civilized world.
“We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice.”
For more on Obama’s words, read this report by The Post’s David Nakamura.
SNL Paris Opening - SNL
“Paris is the City of Light,” Cecily Strong said during an atypically somber “Saturday Night Live” opening this weekend. “And here in New York City, we know that light will never go out. Our love and support is with everyone there tonight.”Strong then repeated the message in French.
PARIS
— Authorities were scouring Europe for at least one, and possibly two,
suspects “directly involved” in the attacks and were trying to ascertain
whether they were among people arrested over the past 48 hours
in Belgium, according to two French officials familiar with the case.
French police took seven people in for questioning on Sunday in connection with the deadly attacks, expanding an international dragnet and investigation that now stretches from the Aegean Sea to the teeming Paris suburbs. But they continued searching for at least one other participant in the attacks. Although seven died, French officials and the Islamic State initially claimed there were eight attackers.
French police took seven people in for questioning on Sunday in connection with the deadly attacks, expanding an international dragnet and investigation that now stretches from the Aegean Sea to the teeming Paris suburbs. But they continued searching for at least one other participant in the attacks. Although seven died, French officials and the Islamic State initially claimed there were eight attackers.
- ·
- Shocked & saddened by terrorist attacks on
#Paris Standing with#France from@space_station. Our thoughts are w you.
Scott Kelly
On Sunday, the Associated Press cited a French police official as saying that three Kalashnikovs were found inside a SEAT car that was used in Friday’s attacks.
Authorities say gunmen opened fire at a number of locations on Friday evening in central Paris, including the Bataclan concert hall and several restaurants: the cafe-bar Le Carillon and nearby Le Petit Cambodge. Soon afterward, assailants opened fire at the pizzeria Casa Nostra and La Belle Equipe, a new and popular bistro.
[What happened during the Paris attacks and how the world responded]
Authorities say gunmen opened fire at a number of locations on Friday evening in central Paris, including the Bataclan concert hall and several restaurants: the cafe-bar Le Carillon and nearby Le Petit Cambodge. Soon afterward, assailants opened fire at the pizzeria Casa Nostra and La Belle Equipe, a new and popular bistro.
[What happened during the Paris attacks and how the world responded]
Thousands of French troops and police officers have been deployed around Paris after Friday’s attacks.
A police officer stands guard outside the Sacre Coeur basilica on Sunday. (Kamil Zihnioglu/AP)
Lisa Millar
Paris restaurants full for Sunday lunch - and heavily guarded #parisattacks
Sophie Brendel
Police
officers patrol as tourists take pictures of the Eiffel Tower, which
remained closed on the first of three days of national mourning in Paris
on Sunday. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP)
Officers patrol at the Sacre Coeur basilica in Paris on Sunday. (Kamil Zihnioglu/AP)
Police: 7 detained in Belgium linked to attacks
The Associated Press
BREAKING: Belgian official says 7 people detained in all in Belgium linked to the Paris attacks.
A Belgian official said seven people were taken into custody in Belgium in connection with the Paris attacks, according to the Associated Press.
The official, who spoke to the Associated Press, said two attackers who died during the massacre were French men living in Brussels.
Among the dead: Nick Alexander, who was selling merchandise for the California band Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan concert hall.
Alexander 36, from London, was a music-industry veteran who worked with numerous bands.
On Facebook, the American band MGMT called Alexander “one of the top crew members and merch sellers MGMT has had and one of the nicest guys in rock. He sold merch for us on our two European tours in the Fall of 2010, including those three nights at Le Bataclan. We are crushed to find out Nick is one of the victims of last night’s insanity who didn’t make it. If you have a t-shirt from that tour, wear it proudly to honor Nick.”
Patrick Carney of the Black Keys wrote on Instagram that Alexander “had done quite a bit of touring with us as our European Merch man. He was one of the sweetest most pleasant guys to be around. Sending my love to everyone who knew him and especially his family.”
“Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world,” his family said in a statement. “Thank you for your thoughts and respect for our family at this difficult time. Peace and light.”
Alexander 36, from London, was a music-industry veteran who worked with numerous bands.
On Facebook, the American band MGMT called Alexander “one of the top crew members and merch sellers MGMT has had and one of the nicest guys in rock. He sold merch for us on our two European tours in the Fall of 2010, including those three nights at Le Bataclan. We are crushed to find out Nick is one of the victims of last night’s insanity who didn’t make it. If you have a t-shirt from that tour, wear it proudly to honor Nick.”
Patrick Carney of the Black Keys wrote on Instagram that Alexander “had done quite a bit of touring with us as our European Merch man. He was one of the sweetest most pleasant guys to be around. Sending my love to everyone who knew him and especially his family.”
“Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world,” his family said in a statement. “Thank you for your thoughts and respect for our family at this difficult time. Peace and light.”
Intelligence authorities said the attackers who terrorized Paris were all wearing the same “suicide vests” filled with the “mother of Satan” explosive — a concoction made from common household products.
The explosive vests, which were loaded with TATP (or acetone peroxyde or triacetone triperoxid), are more commonly seen on suicide bombers in the Middle East, authorities told Agence France-Presse.
TATP was used in the 2005 London Underground bombings, but the bombers wore the explosives in backpacks — not vests.
“Suicide vests require a munitions specialist,” an unnamed former French intelligence chief told the news agency. “To make a reliable and effective explosive is not something anyone can do.
“A munitions specialist is someone who is used to handling explosives, who knows how to make them, to arrange them in a way that the belt or vest is not so unwieldy that the person can’t move. And it must also not blow up by accident.”
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center said TATP is a mixture that is “relatively easy to synthesize” but “can be very unstable and sensitive to heat, shock and friction,” according to the Boston Herald.
The mastermind behind the vests is still believed to be in Europe.
“They didn’t bring these vests from Syria: The more you shake these things, the more you multiply the risks,” the former intelligence chief told the AFP. “It’s very likely he is here, in France or Europe, one or several guys who have come back from jihadist areas and who learned over there.”
The explosive vests, which were loaded with TATP (or acetone peroxyde or triacetone triperoxid), are more commonly seen on suicide bombers in the Middle East, authorities told Agence France-Presse.
TATP was used in the 2005 London Underground bombings, but the bombers wore the explosives in backpacks — not vests.
“Suicide vests require a munitions specialist,” an unnamed former French intelligence chief told the news agency. “To make a reliable and effective explosive is not something anyone can do.
“A munitions specialist is someone who is used to handling explosives, who knows how to make them, to arrange them in a way that the belt or vest is not so unwieldy that the person can’t move. And it must also not blow up by accident.”
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center said TATP is a mixture that is “relatively easy to synthesize” but “can be very unstable and sensitive to heat, shock and friction,” according to the Boston Herald.
The mastermind behind the vests is still believed to be in Europe.
“They didn’t bring these vests from Syria: The more you shake these things, the more you multiply the risks,” the former intelligence chief told the AFP. “It’s very likely he is here, in France or Europe, one or several guys who have come back from jihadist areas and who learned over there.”
Nick Sutton
Sunday's Libération front page
Tuer le bonheur
#tomorrowspaperstoday
#bbcpapers
Nohemi Gonzalez's mother: 'She had big dreams'
EU ministers to hold special meeting at France's request
From the Associated Press:
At the request of France, the European Union will hold a special meeting of its interior and justice ministers next Friday to assess the impact of the Paris attacks.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve asked Sunday for the meeting, saying “our battle against terrorism must be, more than ever, steadfast,” and must be reinforced at the European level.
The EU presidency, held by Luxembourg, immediately obliged.
The attacks in Paris that left at least 129 dead are the among the most deadly terrorist strikes on Western soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
- The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
- Arrests were made in Brussels.
- French President François Hollande called the massacres an “act of war.”
- France is under its most serious lockdown in decades.
- The attacks are the second mass murder France’s capital has seen this year.
Hundreds
gathered in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House,
for a candlelight vigil to grieve for Paris. (Victoria M. Walker/The
Washington Post)
As the sun set Saturday evening, people hurried through Lafayette Square, many speaking French. The White House glowed behind them, but they turned toward the statue of the French Revolutionary War hero, the French Gen. Lafayette. A woman bent to light three candles at the base of the statue as a crowd swelled for a vigil.
Gérard Araud, the ambassador of France, stepped forward, grieving another terrorist attack in Paris.
Gérard
Araud (left), French ambassador to the U.S. addressed the crowd in
French. Standing next to him was Denis McDonough, White House chief of
staff. (Victoria M. Walker/The Washington Post)
He spoke in French, in essence saying France is at war, and we are united. France is not one religion or ethnicity but a place where all can choose to live together, he said.
After a moment of silence, people joined in La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
And then people called out, “Vive la France!”
The vigil was held in a place that honors the historical alliance between the two nations. The statue of Lafayette in the park is inscribed, “By the Congress in commemoration of the services rendered by General Lafayette and his compatriots during the struggle for the independence of the United States of America.”
Inspired by the ideals of the American revolution as a 19-year-old French nobleman, Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, enlisted with the Continental Army in direct defiance of King Louis the XVI.
He was appointed a Major General and formed a close friendship with Gen. George Washington. After returning to France and celebrated as a hero, he helped launch the French Revolution. The park in front of the White House was named in his honor in 1824.
(Victoria M. Walker/The Washington Post)
Armand de Villeroche, a 15-year-old from Paris who lives in Bethesda now, said he feels sadness – and he wants to fight. He held a French flag tightly in his hands. “We’re not giving up,” he said.
Some in the crowd had no connection to France – other than the grief so many felt at the terrorist attack. Others had ties that suddenly felt binding.
Caroline Reppe, a 22-year-old from Texas, came because she studied in France for six months, and so the killings were an assault on a place she had called home. “This is just what I felt I needed to do,” she said.
Some hugged, crying. Some lit candles. A little girl held a paper French flag, colored in with red and blue crayons.
As darkness fell, the crowd continued to grow, hundreds gathered around the statute, clambering up its base, huddled closely together in the cold. They sang La Marseillaise again, more softly this time.
The attacks in Paris that left at least 129 dead are the among the most deadly terrorist strikes on Western soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
- Nohemi Gonzalez, a student at Cal State Long Beach, was among at least 129 who were killed. Other victims include Valentin Ribet, a young French lawyer, and Guillaume B. Dechert, a reporter.
- The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
- Arrests were made in Brussels
- French President François Hollande called the massacres an “act of war.”
- France is under its most serious lockdown in decades.
- The attacks are the second mass murder France’s capital has seen this year.
France
far-right parties were quick to condemn the attacks as direct failures
of President François Hollande’s Socialist government, and one prominent
politician demanded that people living in France who are being tracked
by authorities for possible terrorist ties be rounded up and held in
internment camps.
“In the totality of these terrorist attacks, it’s been a matter of individuals who were already under surveillance,” Laurent Wauquiez, the secretary general of the Republican Party wrote in a declaration to Agence France-Presse, the French news service.
“We can no longer wait until they carry out an act,” Wauquiez wrote. “All of these people, who have files on them, must be placed in specifically dedicated anti-terrorist internment centers…There are no freedoms for the enemies of France and the Republic.”
“We all feel fright and revulsion,” he wrote. “All of France is profoundly in sympathy with the families of the victims. We cannot continue like this, and we cannot passively accept this world of terror for our children. We need to definitively say, ‘That’s enough.'”
Philippe de Villiers, a nationalist who leads the far right “Movement for France,” sent out a tweet soon after the attacks blaming what he has derided as the Islamization of the country.
“Immense drama in Paris, where we practice excessive tolerance and the mosqueization of France,” it said.
After Twitter lit up with criticism, Sarkozy apologized in a tweet 15 minutes later, saying his tweet was “in terribly poor taste.” (His original comment no longer appears in his Twitter feed).
“In the totality of these terrorist attacks, it’s been a matter of individuals who were already under surveillance,” Laurent Wauquiez, the secretary general of the Republican Party wrote in a declaration to Agence France-Presse, the French news service.
“We can no longer wait until they carry out an act,” Wauquiez wrote. “All of these people, who have files on them, must be placed in specifically dedicated anti-terrorist internment centers…There are no freedoms for the enemies of France and the Republic.”
“We all feel fright and revulsion,” he wrote. “All of France is profoundly in sympathy with the families of the victims. We cannot continue like this, and we cannot passively accept this world of terror for our children. We need to definitively say, ‘That’s enough.'”
Philippe de Villiers, a nationalist who leads the far right “Movement for France,” sent out a tweet soon after the attacks blaming what he has derided as the Islamization of the country.
“Immense drama in Paris, where we practice excessive tolerance and the mosqueization of France,” it said.
Two hours after the carnage, Louis Sarkozy, the 18-year-old son of the conservative who preceded Hollande, tweeted that “the weakness and incompetence of President Hollande are becoming a danger for France.”Immense drame a Paris, voilà où nous a conduit le laxisme et la mosqueïsation de la France.— Philippe de Villiers (@PhdeVilliers) November 13, 2015
After Twitter lit up with criticism, Sarkozy apologized in a tweet 15 minutes later, saying his tweet was “in terribly poor taste.” (His original comment no longer appears in his Twitter feed).
Toutes mes condoléances pour les victimes et leur famille.Et mes excuses pour mon tweet précédant qui était terriblement mal placé ce soir.— Louis Sarkozy (@Sarko_Junior) November 13, 2015
This story by
The Washington Post’s Liz Sly, first published in April, is still
relevant to anyone interested in better understanding the Islamic State,
which has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks that killed 129
people. Many key leaders in the organization once served in Saddam
Hussein’s Baathist regime:
Even with the influx of thousands of foreign fighters, almost all of the leaders of the Islamic State are former Iraqi officers, including the members of its shadowy military and security committees, and the majority of its emirs and princes, according to Iraqis, Syrians and analysts who study the group.Read the entire story.
The
identities of the 129 people killed in Friday’s attacks are just
beginning to trickle out. The dead include citizens of Britain, Belgium,
Sweden, Portugal and Spain, Romania and Algeria, according to news
reports. Here are the victims whose names we know so far:
Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, American college student
Nohemi Gonzalez, a senior at Cal State University at Long Beach, was among those killed in Friday’s attacks, according to university officials.
Gonzalez was shot and killed while dining with two other Cal State Long Beach students at Le Petit Cambodge, a Cambodian restaurant, according to university officials. She was studying design and was attending the Strate College of Design for the semester.
Gonzalez was one of 17 Cal State Long Beach students who were in Paris on an international exchange program. The other 16 have been accounted for and are safe, university officials said.
Valentin Ribet, 26, French lawyer
Valentin Ribet, a young French lawyer who specialized in white-collar crime, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, according to his firm, Hogan Lovells.
Ribet, is among the first victims to be identified. He was “a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” Hogan Lovells said in a statement. “This is an awful tragedy and hard for any of us to truly comprehend.”
Guillaume B. Decherf, 43, French
Freelance music journalist Guillaume B. Decherf, the father of two girls, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, according to Les Inrocks, a magazine for which he wrote.
In the Oct. 28 edition of Les Inrocks, Decherf had reviewed “Zipper Down,” the latest album released by the Eagles of Death Metal, the band that was playing at the Bataclan on Friday. “We are all devastated that he’s left us,” the publication wrote on its website. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Nick Alexander, 36, British merchandise manager
Nick Alexander was killed while working at the Bataclan concert hall Friday night, according to a statement released by his family:
Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, American college student
Nohemi Gonzalez, a senior at Cal State University at Long Beach, was among those killed in Friday’s attacks, according to university officials.
Gonzalez was shot and killed while dining with two other Cal State Long Beach students at Le Petit Cambodge, a Cambodian restaurant, according to university officials. She was studying design and was attending the Strate College of Design for the semester.
Gonzalez was one of 17 Cal State Long Beach students who were in Paris on an international exchange program. The other 16 have been accounted for and are safe, university officials said.
Valentin Ribet, 26, French lawyer
Valentin Ribet, a young French lawyer who specialized in white-collar crime, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, according to his firm, Hogan Lovells.
Ribet, is among the first victims to be identified. He was “a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” Hogan Lovells said in a statement. “This is an awful tragedy and hard for any of us to truly comprehend.”
Guillaume B. Decherf, 43, French
Freelance music journalist Guillaume B. Decherf, the father of two girls, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, according to Les Inrocks, a magazine for which he wrote.
In the Oct. 28 edition of Les Inrocks, Decherf had reviewed “Zipper Down,” the latest album released by the Eagles of Death Metal, the band that was playing at the Bataclan on Friday. “We are all devastated that he’s left us,” the publication wrote on its website. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Nick Alexander, 36, British merchandise manager
Nick Alexander was killed while working at the Bataclan concert hall Friday night, according to a statement released by his family:
“Nick was not just our brother, son and uncle, he was everyone’s best friend — generous, funny and fiercely loyal. Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world. Thank you for your thoughts and respect for our family at this difficult time. Peace and light.”Alexander was managing merchandise for the band Eagles of Death Metal, which was playing at the Bataclan on Friday, according to Rolling Stone. He had worked with a number of bands over the years, including the Black Keys, Rolling Stone reported:
“I spent a lot of time with Nick, but the thing about the touring merch job, it’s one of the more thankless jobs,” drummer Patrick Carney tells Rolling Stone. “You do it because you just want to travel and you’re interested in meeting new people and it’s really hard work. It’s not the job you take if you’re into partying. So he was a really organized, super hard worker, really funny. I remember him always very content with being on tour. It was what seems to make him the happiest. After shows, when everyone would go wild or whatever, he would also be really reserved. He was just a sweetheart, that guy.”
Pope Francis
“I am moved and saddened. But I
do not understand these things are hard to understand, made by human
beings. For this I am deeply moved, saddened and pray. They are so close
to the French people so loved, I am close to the families of the
victims and I pray for all of them.” (Tv2000)
Vice President Joe Biden
“We will stand together. We will
never bow. We will never break. That’s the character of our two nations.
We are bound by timeless democratic values that the cowardice and
perverse ideologues of extremist networks can never match, wherever they
are.” (White House)
Secretary of State John Kerry
“These are heinous, evil, vile
acts. Those of us who can must do everything in our power to fight back
against what can only be considered an assault on our common humanity.” (U.S. Department of State)
U.N. Council President Matthew Rycroft
“The members of the Security
Council condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly
terrorist attacks which took place in several places in Paris on the
evening of 13 November 2015, causing numerous deaths and injuries among
civilians.” (United Nations)
Saudi Arabia foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir
“wanted to express our
condolences to the government and people of France for the heinous
terrorist attacks that took place yesterday which are in violation and
contravention of all ethics, morals and religions.” (Al Arabiya News)
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
“Such terrorist attacks will not weaken the will of peace-loving countries.” (Al Arabiya News)
Qatar foreign minister Khaled al-Attiyah
“The state of Qatar, through its
foreign minister, strongly condemns these heinous attacks that have
struck the French capital causing so many victims.” (Al Arabiya News)
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi
“We condemn and deplore the
terrorist attacks in Paris, which emphasize that fighting terrorism
calls for international efforts to eliminate it in all countries.” (Al Arabiya News)
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan
“As a country that knows very
well the manner and consequences of terrorism, we understand perfectly
the suffering that France is experiencing now.” (Al Arabiya News)
Russian president Vladimir Putin
“It’s clear that real joint efforts of the entire international community are necessary to effectively fight this evil.” (Bloomberg)
EU Heads of State
“The European Union is deeply
shocked and in mourning after the terrorist attacks in Paris. It is an
attack against us all. We will face this threat together with all
necessary means and ruthless determination.” (Council of the European Union)
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán
“Hungary’s defenses must be increased and we must respond to these monstrous terrorist attacks.” (Hungarian Free Press)
Sources: News reports, Associated Press.
See the full graphic here.
Music journalist killed at concert
Freelance
music journalist Guillaume B. Dechert, the 43-year-old father of two
girls, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, according to Les
Inrocks, a magazine for which he had written since 2008.
“We just learned of the death of our friend Guillaume B. Dechert at the Bataclan,” the publication wrote in French on its website. “He wrote about music, rock and metal—those were his specialities.”
In the October 28 edition of Les Inrocks, Dechert had reviewed “Zipper Down,” the latest album released by the Eagles of Death Metal, the band that was playing at the Bataclan on Friday. He was scheduled to go to a concert by the English rock band Motorhead for Inrocks on Sunday.
“We are all devastated that he’s left us,” the publication said. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
“We just learned of the death of our friend Guillaume B. Dechert at the Bataclan,” the publication wrote in French on its website. “He wrote about music, rock and metal—those were his specialities.”
In the October 28 edition of Les Inrocks, Dechert had reviewed “Zipper Down,” the latest album released by the Eagles of Death Metal, the band that was playing at the Bataclan on Friday. He was scheduled to go to a concert by the English rock band Motorhead for Inrocks on Sunday.
“We are all devastated that he’s left us,” the publication said. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
NFL to increase security at stadiums
Via the Early Lead:
The NFL on Saturday released a statement saying it will beef up security at its stadiums for the games on Sunday and Monday in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris. The league added that, based on information from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, there are no known threats against NFL stadiums.Read the full story here.
“The safety of our fans, stadium personnel and teams at all NFL games is our priority, and security at our games is robust,” the statement read. “Our procedures have been certified and designated by the Department of Homeland Security since 2008 as effective anti-terrorism technology. All NFL clubs use mandatory metal detector screening and multiple layers of perimeter security external tot he stadium to safeguard fans and the stadium from explosive threats.”
U2
pay homage to attacks’ victims near the Bataclan concert hall on
Saturday in Paris, a day after a series of coordinated attacks in and
around Paris. (Frank Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
(Frank Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
Nick
Alexander was among those killed at the Bataclan concert hall. (Photo
courtesy family via U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
“It is with huge sorrow that we can confirm that our beloved Nick lost his life at the Bataclan last night. Nick was not just our brother, son and uncle, he was everyone’s best friend – generous, funny and fiercely loyal. Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world. Thank you for your thoughts and respect for our family at this difficult time. Peace and light.”
According to the Guardian, Alexander was working for the band Eagles of Death Metal, which was playing at the Bataclan on Friday.
Nohemi
Gonzalez, a 23-year-old junior at Cal State Long Beach, was among those
killed in Friday’s attacks, according to university officials.
Gonzalez was one of 17 Cal State Long Beach students who were in Paris on an international exchange program. The other 16 have been accounted for and are safe, university officials said.
Cal State officials did not say how or where Gonzalez was killed on Friday. She was studying design and was attending the Strate College of Design for the semester, according to a statement from Cal State Long Beach.
The university is planning a vigil for Sunday afternoon.
“I’m deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Long Beach State University student Nohemi Gonzalez. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this sad time,” President Jane Close Conoley said. “Our university stands with our nearly eighty foreign exchange students from France as they struggle with this tragedy. We will extend all support necessary to comfort them. We will also extend support to all students, faculty and staff who are in need.
Gonzalez was one of 17 Cal State Long Beach students who were in Paris on an international exchange program. The other 16 have been accounted for and are safe, university officials said.
Cal State officials did not say how or where Gonzalez was killed on Friday. She was studying design and was attending the Strate College of Design for the semester, according to a statement from Cal State Long Beach.
The university is planning a vigil for Sunday afternoon.
“I’m deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Long Beach State University student Nohemi Gonzalez. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this sad time,” President Jane Close Conoley said. “Our university stands with our nearly eighty foreign exchange students from France as they struggle with this tragedy. We will extend all support necessary to comfort them. We will also extend support to all students, faculty and staff who are in need.
Among
those watching Germany vs. France at the Stade de France when
explosions rang out near the stadium was a group of volunteers who were
involved in the effort after the Germanwings crash earlier this year, according to Reuters.
Reuters reports:
Reuters reports:
“It was supposed to be an evening of French and German celebration and appreciation after that tragic event,” Airbus communications chief Rainer Ohler, who was in the stadium with the planemaker’s chief executive Tom Enders, said of the match.You can read Reuters’ report here.
“We heard the explosions and at first nobody thought of terrorism. It was only when President Hollande left and people started getting phone messages that we realized what was going on,” he told Reuters in Dubai by telephone.
In June, Time Out Paris gave the restaurant on Rue de Charonne a glowing review. Here’s what the reviewer said, translated from the French version:
“The three pretty young women behind the story of La Belle Equipe met at a restaurant where they once worked, le Café des Anges, and decided to open this joyful bistro on the Rue de Charronne at the end of 2014. When we saw these fresh young faces behind the bar, we knew that this is a perfect spot for men on a first date.
Somewhere between a classic restaurant and a nightspot, La Belle Equipe has opted for a decor and that’s refined and casual at the same time, mixing brick walls and tapestries, antique mirrors and movie posters. Its large terrace lets you sip delicious aperitifs under the summer sky, with cocktails with an olive oil base or egg whites and rosemary. If you don’t want these, you can content yourself with a spritzer (6 euros) or a cocktail with gin, grapefruit and vanilla bean while you wait for the little tap on your shoulder from your server.
La Belle Equipe’s menu is bistro fare, with fresh, seasonal products: Burgers, composed salads and even octopus a la plancha (for more adventurous types). We also tasted a succulent prawn risotto for 15 euros and penne with gorgonzola with a chiffonade of ham, an entree that’s simple but tasty.
If this new night spot has nothing revolutionary to recommend it, there’s nowhere more fun and convivial – the kind of place where you can come sit down to take a load off, like you would when you’re visiting with a good old friend to catch up and chat away.”
American citizen Helen Jane Wilson was among those wounded at the Bataclan concert hall on Friday, according to the Associated Press and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Wilson, who runs a catering company in Paris, told AP that she had been shot in the leg and was headed into surgery. Wilson was with a friend who “died in her arms,” according to the Times-Picayune, citing a friend of Wilson’s in New Orleans.
Wilson previously lived in New Orleans, where she worked at the House of Blues concert venue, according to the Times-Picayune.
Wilson, who runs a catering company in Paris, told AP that she had been shot in the leg and was headed into surgery. Wilson was with a friend who “died in her arms,” according to the Times-Picayune, citing a friend of Wilson’s in New Orleans.
Wilson previously lived in New Orleans, where she worked at the House of Blues concert venue, according to the Times-Picayune.
U.S.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry, left, and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov in Vienna for a meeting about the conflict in Syria.
(Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)
Kerry delivered the remarks in French. Here is an English translation:
Good afternoon. Last night the world witnessed the embodiment of evil when more than 120 people lost their lives, and more than 200 others were injured, in Paris at the hands of terrorists.
As President Obama has said, what transpired was “an attack not just on Paris – not just on the people of France – but an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share.”
Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State] has claimed responsibility. We are still gathering information, but we have seen nothing that leads us to a different conclusion.
France is America’s oldest ally. Our unshakable friendship dates back to the earliest days of my country’s existence, through two world wars, to the great partnerships that exist today between our leaders.
But devastating moments like these remind us that what connects the United States and France extends far deeper than the close alliance our governments have enjoyed for centuries.
Even in our darkest hours – especially in our darkest hours – the United States and France are united as one. And that is why we will offer France whatever support we can possibly provide as they root out the monsters that plotted these attacks – just as we know France would do for us.
The bond our nations share today is both visceral and unshakable. For me, it is also personal: I am one of many Americans with deep connections to France and immediate family living in or around Paris.
The U.S. Embassy is working around the clock to assist American citizens affected by this tragedy, and our government is working closely with French authorities to identify American victims. We are aware there are Americans among the injured and will continue to offer them the full range of consular assistance.
Earlier today I spoke with Foreign Minister Fabius, as well the U.S. Ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and I emphasized our readiness to help however we can.
The United States stands with France – and nations around the world – in pure outrage and profound sadness.
We stand with France and the rest of the world in expressing our deepest condolences to the hundreds directly affected by these heinous acts.
And certainly, we stand with France and the rest of the world in our resolve to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the face of the Earth. And make no mistake: that resolve has only grown stronger in the wake of this unspeakable brutality.
Valentin
Ribet, a young French lawyer who specialized in white-collar crime, was
among those killed at the Bataclan concert hall Friday night, according
to his firm, Hogan Lovells.
Ribet, 26, is among the first victims to be identified. He was “a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” Hogan Lovells said in a statement. “This is an awful tragedy and hard for any of us to truly comprehend.”
“We are shocked by both our loss and the wider events in the city,” the statement said. “Our thoughts at this time are with Valentin and his family as well as with his colleagues in the office and across the firm.”
Ribet had received several degrees from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University and had earned a masters degree in international business law from the London School of Economics in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Our hearts are filled with sadness at this news,” the London School of Economics tweeted Saturday about Ribet’s death.
Ribet, 26, is among the first victims to be identified. He was “a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” Hogan Lovells said in a statement. “This is an awful tragedy and hard for any of us to truly comprehend.”
“We are shocked by both our loss and the wider events in the city,” the statement said. “Our thoughts at this time are with Valentin and his family as well as with his colleagues in the office and across the firm.”
Ribet had received several degrees from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University and had earned a masters degree in international business law from the London School of Economics in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Our hearts are filled with sadness at this news,” the London School of Economics tweeted Saturday about Ribet’s death.
We have learned of some very sad news from our LSE alumni community, following the #ParisAttacks. pic.twitter.com/NZVsG6PDLh— LSE (@LSEnews) November 14, 2015
Ohio
State University quarterback Cardale Jones is among those offering
support to the victims of the Paris attacks this Saturday, the Early Lead reports.
Related: After Paris attacks, there’s only one ‘College Gameday’ sign worth sharing
Just a few days ago, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s highly
anticipated trip to Europe was all the buzz after the French reportedly
refused to dine with the leader if one thing was missing: wine.
[Read: France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served]
As The Washington Post’s Anthony Faiola wrote, “French officials reportedly nixed plans for a formal meal in Paris with President François Hollande following a dispute over the menu,” insisting that the dinner shouldn’t be wine-free. They countered with this proposal:
President
Obama will have his National Security Council review the situation in
Paris before heading to the Group of 20 summit there, according to a
White House official.
The image on Jones’s cleat appears to mimic the illustration by graphic designer Jean Jullien, which was posted online Friday night.Ohio State's Cardale Jones with an Eiffel Towel on his cleat, a tribute to Paris Victims (via @11W) #OSUvsILL pic.twitter.com/detJrkwWmL— Nicole Darin (@NicoleDarin) November 14, 2015
Related: After Paris attacks, there’s only one ‘College Gameday’ sign worth sharing
According to the Associated Press, new developments unfolding now:
BREAKING: Belgium justice minister: "number of" arrests made in Brussels relating to Paris attacks.— The Associated Press (@AP) November 14, 2015
A
Syrian passport found near the body of a Paris gunman indicates that
its holder entered Europe through Greece, a Greek official said,
according to the Associated Press.
Nikos Toskas, who heads police forces in Greece, said that the passport holder crossed into the European Union through the Greek Island of Leros on Oct. 3, AP reported.
“We do not know if the passport was checked by other countries through which the holder likely passed. We will continue the painstaking and persistent effort to ensure the security of our country and Europe under difficult circumstances, insisting on complete identification of those arriving,” Toskas said in a statement.
It’s unclear whether the gunman was the original passport holder, as Syrian passports are being sold on the black market for the benefits they confer.
Nikos Toskas, who heads police forces in Greece, said that the passport holder crossed into the European Union through the Greek Island of Leros on Oct. 3, AP reported.
“We do not know if the passport was checked by other countries through which the holder likely passed. We will continue the painstaking and persistent effort to ensure the security of our country and Europe under difficult circumstances, insisting on complete identification of those arriving,” Toskas said in a statement.
It’s unclear whether the gunman was the original passport holder, as Syrian passports are being sold on the black market for the benefits they confer.
Louis
H. occasionally works at the Bataclan concert hall, he said Saturday.
On Friday evening, however, the 26-year-old — who declined to give his
last name because of security concerns — was there to catch the show
with his mother.
He arrived around 8:30 p.m., and at about 9:40 p.m., he said he heard a noise that sounded like fireworks.
“Then a lot of people started screaming, I realized something was wrong,” he said. “The band stopped playing, and the lights went on. Some people were on the ground, some of them were running. I grabbed my mother, and I pinned her to the ground. I protected her head with my arms.
“We were lying down on the floor, trying not to move, pretending we were dead.”
Louis said that he could hear gunshots, screaming and weapons reloading. He didn’t look at the attackers, he said.
“After 10 minutes or so, someone said ‘the gunmen are gone.’ I didn’t think twice, it was time to escape,” he said. “I took my mother by the hand, and we rushed toward the backstage exit. On the way I saw several dead bodies and people injured. It was a massacre. We went out as fast as we could. That really saved us, because I realized later that the gunmen were still inside.”
When Louis and his mother reached the street, he said that they went straight to their car and drove home.
— Cléophée Demoustier
He arrived around 8:30 p.m., and at about 9:40 p.m., he said he heard a noise that sounded like fireworks.
“Then a lot of people started screaming, I realized something was wrong,” he said. “The band stopped playing, and the lights went on. Some people were on the ground, some of them were running. I grabbed my mother, and I pinned her to the ground. I protected her head with my arms.
“We were lying down on the floor, trying not to move, pretending we were dead.”
Louis said that he could hear gunshots, screaming and weapons reloading. He didn’t look at the attackers, he said.
“After 10 minutes or so, someone said ‘the gunmen are gone.’ I didn’t think twice, it was time to escape,” he said. “I took my mother by the hand, and we rushed toward the backstage exit. On the way I saw several dead bodies and people injured. It was a massacre. We went out as fast as we could. That really saved us, because I realized later that the gunmen were still inside.”
When Louis and his mother reached the street, he said that they went straight to their car and drove home.
— Cléophée Demoustier
The attacks on Paris on Friday involved an act of violence rare in the Western world: suicide attacks. Data from the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism shows how just how unusual suicide attacks — involving bombers or other means — in Western Europe and North America are; the most recent one resulted in a fatality during an attack on an IRS building in Austin in 2010. Most years have zero.
Deaths from suicide attacks are much more common in the Middle East, the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and Africa, which have seen more than 90 percent of the fatalities in most years.
The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism maintains a global database of suicide attacks going back to the early 1980s. This particular type of violence really took off in the 2000s, starting with the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Since 2000, by far the greatest number of suicide attacks have taken place in Iraq, followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. The chart below has 128 as the number of fatalities in Paris on Friday — a number subject to revision.
Read more here.
Deaths from suicide attacks are much more common in the Middle East, the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and Africa, which have seen more than 90 percent of the fatalities in most years.
The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism maintains a global database of suicide attacks going back to the early 1980s. This particular type of violence really took off in the 2000s, starting with the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Since 2000, by far the greatest number of suicide attacks have taken place in Iraq, followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. The chart below has 128 as the number of fatalities in Paris on Friday — a number subject to revision.
Read more here.
Muslims
and their supporters took to social media last night and this morning
to condemn the deadly terror attacks in Paris and reiterate the
difference between Islam and extremist dogma.
As news about the shootings trickled out, an eyewitness said that one of the perpetrators had yelled “Allahu Akbar,” (“God is great” in Arabic), before firing into a crowd at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. Just before noon Eastern time, French President François Hollande said the Islamic State was responsible for the deaths and called the attack an “act of war.”
Muslim groups widely condemned the terror attacks in Paris, and Muslims and supporters around the world took to social media to defend Islam as a nonviolent faith.
Read more here.
As news about the shootings trickled out, an eyewitness said that one of the perpetrators had yelled “Allahu Akbar,” (“God is great” in Arabic), before firing into a crowd at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. Just before noon Eastern time, French President François Hollande said the Islamic State was responsible for the deaths and called the attack an “act of war.”
Muslim groups widely condemned the terror attacks in Paris, and Muslims and supporters around the world took to social media to defend Islam as a nonviolent faith.
Read more here.
“It
was chaos,” an audience member told French newspaper Le Figaro. “I was
on the right side of the concert hall in the Bataclan, a song of the
Eagles of Death Metal was about to wrap up, when I heard the sounds of
explosions, like firecrackers. I saw the singer take off his guitar, I
turned around and saw a man with an automatic weapon fire in the air.”
Authorities say at least 100 people were killed inside the Paris theater, where the American band was playing Friday night. Survivors say the gunmen opened fire on the audience, sweeping the seats with a hail of bullets.
“They were just standing at the back of the concert room and shooting at us. Like if we were birds,” Julien Pearce, a journalist who was attending the concert told CNN.
“It looked like a battlefield, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere,” another concertgoer told the Guardian.
Read more here.
Authorities say at least 100 people were killed inside the Paris theater, where the American band was playing Friday night. Survivors say the gunmen opened fire on the audience, sweeping the seats with a hail of bullets.
“They were just standing at the back of the concert room and shooting at us. Like if we were birds,” Julien Pearce, a journalist who was attending the concert told CNN.
“It looked like a battlefield, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere,” another concertgoer told the Guardian.
Read more here.
The
Foo Fighters have canceled the remainder of their tour, saying that “in
light of this senseless violence, the closing of borders, and
international mourning,” the band cannot keep playing as planned.
The band on Saturday wrote in a Facebook post:
The band on Saturday wrote in a Facebook post:
It is with profound sadness and heartfelt concern for everyone in Paris that we have been forced to announce the cancellation of the rest of our tour. In light of this senseless violence, the closing of borders, and international mourning, we can’t continue right now. There is no other way to say it. This is crazy and it sucks. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt or who lost a loved one.
It is with profound sadness and heartfelt concern for everyone in Paris that we have been forced to announce the…
Posted by Foo Fighters on Saturday, November 14, 2015
Tonight’s Democratic
Party presidential debate will go on as scheduled, according to
officials at CBS News. Questions for the candidates, however, will
reflect events of the past 24 hours in Paris.
CBS News Executive Editor Steve Capus said the moderator’s plans had changed “dramatically” after news of the attacks broke.
“American leadership is put to the test,” Capus told the New York Times, explaining why it was important for the debate to continue. “The entire world is looking to the White House. These people are vying to take over this office.”
Read more here.
CBS News Executive Editor Steve Capus said the moderator’s plans had changed “dramatically” after news of the attacks broke.
“American leadership is put to the test,” Capus told the New York Times, explaining why it was important for the debate to continue. “The entire world is looking to the White House. These people are vying to take over this office.”
Read more here.
Laurine
Durand, a 29-year-old chef at a Paris restaurant, was at home when the
attacks unfolded. She said that she received a call from her husband
around 9:30 p.m. A 30-year-old Brazilian citizen working in Paris as an
artist, he was having dinner with seven friends at Le Petit Cambodge.
“He told me that they’d been attacked a few minutes before. They were having dinner at the terrace when suddenly he heard a blast. The next thing he saw was people panicking and screaming. He was next to the door entrance, so he rushed back inside. Then he saw his friend Gabriel on the sidewalk a meter away from him, covered in blood. He grabbed Gabriel and pulled him back inside the restaurant. At that moment, he thought they were all going to die,” Durand said in an interview. “Then the shooting stopped.”
A rescue squad arrived a few minutes later, she said. Two of her husband’s friends were injured: One was shot twice, in the hand and the breast. The other was shot three times, in the leg and the back. Both were taken to the hospital. Her husband, who requested anonymity out of fear for his safety, and other survivors were transferred to a restaurant across the street from Le Petit Cambodge. They stayed there until 6 a.m., answering questions from the police.
— Cléophée Demoustier
“He told me that they’d been attacked a few minutes before. They were having dinner at the terrace when suddenly he heard a blast. The next thing he saw was people panicking and screaming. He was next to the door entrance, so he rushed back inside. Then he saw his friend Gabriel on the sidewalk a meter away from him, covered in blood. He grabbed Gabriel and pulled him back inside the restaurant. At that moment, he thought they were all going to die,” Durand said in an interview. “Then the shooting stopped.”
A rescue squad arrived a few minutes later, she said. Two of her husband’s friends were injured: One was shot twice, in the hand and the breast. The other was shot three times, in the leg and the back. Both were taken to the hospital. Her husband, who requested anonymity out of fear for his safety, and other survivors were transferred to a restaurant across the street from Le Petit Cambodge. They stayed there until 6 a.m., answering questions from the police.
— Cléophée Demoustier
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani, right, shaking hands with Belgian Foreign
Minister Didier Reynders in Tehran on Nov. 9. (AFP/Getty Images)
[Read: France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served]
As The Washington Post’s Anthony Faiola wrote, “French officials reportedly nixed plans for a formal meal in Paris with President François Hollande following a dispute over the menu,” insisting that the dinner shouldn’t be wine-free. They countered with this proposal:
The French, RTL said, counter offered with a presumably alcohol-free breakfast — which the Iranians promptly rejected because it appeared too “cheap.” The two leaders will now reportedly settle for a face-to-face chat next Tuesday.Well, that face-to-face isn’t happening this weekend. After the attacks in Paris, Rouhani canceled his trip.
While
French President François Hollande has declared a state of emergency
and increased strict checks on the country’s border after the attacks
Friday, travel remains open in and out of France.
The systematic checks at entry points into France are being carried out at all international road, rail, air and sea border crossing points, according to the French Embassy in Washington.
Airports in France remain open, and planes and trains continued to operate Saturday.
The airports authority that operates Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, two major airports near Paris, warned travelers to expect delays because of the stricter security measures.
In the United States, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said they were monitoring the situation in Paris.
“The FAA is following the situation and remains in close contact with our security and law enforcement partners,” the agency said in a statement. “The agency is prepared to act quickly in the event action is warranted.”
The systematic checks at entry points into France are being carried out at all international road, rail, air and sea border crossing points, according to the French Embassy in Washington.
Airports in France remain open, and planes and trains continued to operate Saturday.
The airports authority that operates Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, two major airports near Paris, warned travelers to expect delays because of the stricter security measures.
In the United States, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said they were monitoring the situation in Paris.
“The FAA is following the situation and remains in close contact with our security and law enforcement partners,” the agency said in a statement. “The agency is prepared to act quickly in the event action is warranted.”
Here
are a few pictures from the streets of Paris on Saturday, as well as
some shots showing how others are responding to the attacks in cities
around the world.
Paris
Women
look at a pop-up memorial of flowers and messages set up along a rail
close to the Bataclan theater. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman lays flowers outside the Bataclan. (Michel Euler/AP)
A
French flag and flowers are are placed in tribute at Place de la
Republique the day after a deadly attacks in Paris. (Christopher
Furlong/Getty Images)
Candles
and flowers encircle blood stains on the pavement near the scene of the
Bataclan attack. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Hildesheim, Germany
A man passes candles in front of the Hildesheim Cathedral. (Peter Steffen/European Pressphoto Agency via AP)
St. Petersburg
People lay flowers in front of the French consulate in St.Petersburg. (Dmitry Lovetsky/AP)
New York
A
passage from the poem “Liberte” by Paul Eluard is written in chalk in
New York’s Union Square in solidarity to the people of Paris. (Mary
Altaffer/AP)
A woman leaves flowers outside of the French consulate in New York . (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
London
A woman holds a placard that translates to “We are Paris” in Trafalgar Square. (Jack Taylor/European Pressphoto Agency)
Flowers on the steps of the French Embassy. (Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad suggested Saturday that French support for
opposition forces in his country’s civil war led to the Paris attacks.
“Wrong [policies] adopted by Western states, particularly France, toward events in the region, and its ignorance of the support of a number of its allies to terrorists are reasons behind the expansion of terrorism,” Assad said in comments published by Syria’s official news agency, SANA.
The embattled leader called on Western states to stop aiding “terrorists,” a term used by Syria’s government for all insurgent groups, and compared the Paris attacks to events in Syria, saying that his country has endured terrorism during the civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people.
Read more here.
“Wrong [policies] adopted by Western states, particularly France, toward events in the region, and its ignorance of the support of a number of its allies to terrorists are reasons behind the expansion of terrorism,” Assad said in comments published by Syria’s official news agency, SANA.
The embattled leader called on Western states to stop aiding “terrorists,” a term used by Syria’s government for all insurgent groups, and compared the Paris attacks to events in Syria, saying that his country has endured terrorism during the civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people.
Read more here.
The Early Lead reports that Tuesday’s soccer match between France and England will be played as scheduled.
According to the Early Lead:
According to the Early Lead:
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, also announced that all players participating in games on the continent next week will wear black armbands in honor of the dead. There will be a minute of silence before kickoff of each game, as well.
Read the full post here.OFFICIAL: All UEFA games in coming days will have black armbands and a minute's silence following events in Paris pic.twitter.com/GtgbSqsMhd— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) November 14, 2015
The State Department says American citizens were among the injured in the Paris attacks.
“The United States Embassy in Paris is working round the clock to assist American citizens affected by this tragedy,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement Saturday morning. “The U.S. government is working closely with French authorities to identify American victims. We are aware there are Americans among the injured, and are offering them the full range of consular assistance.
“This is what we can say now; we’ll keep you posted as we are able to be more forthcoming publicly.”
People concerned about U.S. citizens in Paris can contact the State Department at 1-888-407-4747, from the United States; or 202-501-4444, from overseas.
“The United States Embassy in Paris is working round the clock to assist American citizens affected by this tragedy,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement Saturday morning. “The U.S. government is working closely with French authorities to identify American victims. We are aware there are Americans among the injured, and are offering them the full range of consular assistance.
“This is what we can say now; we’ll keep you posted as we are able to be more forthcoming publicly.”
People concerned about U.S. citizens in Paris can contact the State Department at 1-888-407-4747, from the United States; or 202-501-4444, from overseas.
Police take up position under the Eiffel Tower on Saturday. (Yves Herman/Reuters)
#BREAKING Eiffel Tower closed indefinitely following Paris attacks: management— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 14, 2015
Le jour se levait ce matin sur #Paris: toutes nos condoléances et notre soutien au peuple français pic.twitter.com/Fn3pi8wKP0— U.S. Embassy France (@USEmbassyFrance) November 14, 2015
Stephen
Colbert ended Friday night’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” with a
statement about the Paris attacks. Colbert, who at times appeared
visibly shaken, noted that the show learned of the attacks after its
taping.
“Folks, we end tonight’s show with a heavy heart, because we taped all of tonight’s show and then we found out about the horrific attacks in Paris today,” he said. “I know that not much is known right now. We do know there have been many deaths; the crisis is still ongoing.
“President Hollande declared a state of emergency, and President Obama has promised the United States will do whatever it takes to bring those terrorists to justice. We add our thoughts and prayers to everyone in Paris.
“And, now, um, we’ll see you on Monday … um,” Colbert continued, before pausing, patting his desk, and taking a deep breath. “Goodnight.”
You can watch the statement here. (Skip the video to the final minutes of the show.)
“Folks, we end tonight’s show with a heavy heart, because we taped all of tonight’s show and then we found out about the horrific attacks in Paris today,” he said. “I know that not much is known right now. We do know there have been many deaths; the crisis is still ongoing.
“President Hollande declared a state of emergency, and President Obama has promised the United States will do whatever it takes to bring those terrorists to justice. We add our thoughts and prayers to everyone in Paris.
“And, now, um, we’ll see you on Monday … um,” Colbert continued, before pausing, patting his desk, and taking a deep breath. “Goodnight.”
You can watch the statement here. (Skip the video to the final minutes of the show.)
The
Islamic State stated that it was behind the attacks in Paris, one of
the deadliest attacks in France since World War II. French President
François Hollande called the massacres an “act of war” by the Islamic
State. Read the full coverage here.
British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Saturday that “we must be prepared for a number of British casualties” when victims of the “brutal” Paris attacks are identified, according to the BBC.
The BBC added:
The Associated Press reported Saturday that a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers.
From Agence France-Presse:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Beneficentdo not know) [Al-Munafiqun: 8].
Allah (ta’ala) said, {They thought that their fortresses would protect them from Allah but Allah came upon them from where they had not expected, and He cast terror into their hearts so they destroyed their houses by their own hands and the hands of the believers. So take warning, O people of vision} [Al-Hashr:2].
In a blessed battle whose causes of success were enabled by Allah, a group of believers from the soldiers of the Caliphate (may Allah strengthen and support it) set out targeting the capital of prostitution and vice, the lead carrier of the cross in Europe-Paris. This group of believers were youth who divorced the worldly life and advanced towards their enemy hoping to be killed for Allah’s sake, doing so in support of His religion, His Prophet (blessing and peace be upon him), and His allies. They did so in spite of His enemies. Thus, they were truthful with Allah – we consider them so – and Allah granted victory upon their hands and cast terror into the hearts of the crusaders in their very own homeland.
And so eight brothers equipped with explosive belts and assault rifles attacked precisely chosen targets in the center of the capital of France. These targets included the Stade de France stadium during a soccer match — between the teams of Germany and France, both of which are crusader nations — attended by the imbecile of France (Francois Hollande). The targets included the Bataclan theatre for exhibitions, where hundreds of pagans gathered for a concert of prostitution and vice. There were also simultaneous attacks on other targets in the tenth, eleventh, and eighteenth districts, and elsewhere. Paris was thereby shaken beneath the crusaders’ feet, who were constricted by its streets. The result of the attacks was the deaths of no less than two hundred crusaders and the wounding of even more. All praise, grace, and favor belong to Allah.
Allah blessed our brothers and granted them what they desired. They detonated their explosive belts in the masses of the disbelievers after finishing all their ammunition. We ask Allah to accept them amongst the martyrs and to allow us to follow them.
Let France and all nations following its path know that they will continue to be at the top of the target list for the Islamic State and that the scent of death will not leave their nostrils as long as they partake in the crusader campaign, as long as they dare to curse our Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and as long as they boast about their war against Islam in France and their strikes against Muslims in the lands of the Caliphate with their jets, which were of no avail to them in the filthy streets and alleys of Paris. Indeed, this is just the beginning. It is also a warning for any who wish to take heed.
Allah is the greatest.
(And to Allah belongs all honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites
British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Saturday that “we must be prepared for a number of British casualties” when victims of the “brutal” Paris attacks are identified, according to the BBC.
The BBC added:
The Foreign Office says it is “urgently investigating” whether any British nationals had been caught up in the shootings or hostage-taking.
I have spoken to Francois Hollande. I expressed our solidarity with France and said we will do whatever we can to help.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 14, 2015
My message to the French people: Nous sommes solidaires avec vous. Nous sommes tous ensemble. We are with you. United.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 14, 2015
Flags at Downing Street lowered to half mast. pic.twitter.com/E8ZIdsnkYY— Tom Barton (@tombarton) November 14, 2015
Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday that France’s “mistaken
policies … contributed to the spread of terrorism” that culminated in
the Paris attacks, according to Agence France-Presse.
“The terrorist attacks that targeted the French capital Paris cannot
be separated from what happened in the Lebanese capital Beirut lately
and from what has been happening in Syria for the past five years and in
other areas,” Assad said in Damascus, Syria.The Associated Press reported Saturday that a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers.
BREAKING: Police officials: Syrian passport found on body of 1 suicide bomber at Paris stadium.— The Associated Press (@AP) November 14, 2015
Cards, candles and flowers in front of Le Carillon restaurant in Paris on Saturday. (Jerome Delay/AP)
Public demonstrations will be banned in Paris and the surrounding area until Thursday following a series of deadly attacks, police said Saturday.
City authorities cannot “provide security for specific marches or gatherings” in the wake of Friday’s attacks that killed at least 128 people and wounded more than 250, many of them seriously, Paris police chief Michel Cadot said in a statement.
Pope Francis on Saturday called the Paris attacks “a piece” of the “piecemeal Third World War,” according to Vatican Radio.
“I am close to the people of France, to the families of the victims, and I am praying for all of them,” Francis said. “I am moved, and I am saddened. I do not understand. These things hard to understand.”
Former vice president Al Gore was at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on
Friday to lead at 24-hour webcast on climate change when deadly assaults
erupted across the city.
As news of the massacre played out, Gore suspended his “24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth” event, and took to Twitter:
Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work to increase global awareness about climate change.
French President François Hollande said Saturday that the attacks in
Paris were an “act of war” carried out by Islamic State militants,
according to media reports.
Hollande said the attacks left 127 people dead, and were orchestrated and planned from abroad. In the aftermath of the attacks, he has declared three days of national mourning and put security on the highest level, according to the Associated Press.
From the Associated Press
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the attackers who killed more than 120 people in Paris overnight “hate freedom.”
Speaking to reporters in Berlin early Saturday, Merkel expressed grief for those who died, saying “they wanted to live the life of free people in a city that celebrates freedom.”
She said the victims encountered “murderers who hate precisely this life of freedom.” Merkel said her country stands ready to help France in whichever way it can because the attack “was aimed not just at Paris, it targeted and it hits all of us.”
Germany has offered France the help of its special anti-terror unit in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas des Maiziere said in a statement Saturday that he is in touch with his French counterpart “and I have offered him the help of German special forces.”
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said de Maiziere had offered “all support, including special forces such as the GSG9.” The GSG9 anti-terror unit was created after the attacks on the Munich Olympics in 1972 and saw its first major operation during the hijacking of a Lufthansa plane by a Palestinian group.
“I am close to the people of France, to the families of the victims, and I am praying for all of them,” Francis said. “I am moved, and I am saddened. I do not understand. These things hard to understand.”
When asked if this is part of the “piecemeal Third World War” the Holy Father has mentioned many times before, Pope Francis said “this is a piece of it,” adding that “there is no religious or human justification for it.”
Former
vice president Al Gore hosts a 24-hour live webcast at the foot of the
Eiffel Tower in Paris on Friday. (Thibault Camus/AP)
As news of the massacre played out, Gore suspended his “24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth” event, and took to Twitter:
The band Duran Duran reportedly performed before the webcast shut down. Other performers that had been scheduled to play included Bon Jovi and Elton John.Out of solidarity with the French people and the City of Paris, we have decided to suspend our broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and (1/3)— Al Gore (@algore) November 14, 2015
Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work to increase global awareness about climate change.
Several news outlets are now reporting that Islamic State militants say they are behind the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday.
#BREAKING: Islamic State group claims Paris attacks— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 14, 2015
BREAKING: Islamic State claims responsibility for Paris attacks in official statement— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) November 14, 2015
French President Francois Hollande on Saturday called the Paris attacks an “act of war”. (AFP)
Hollande said the attacks left 127 people dead, and were orchestrated and planned from abroad. In the aftermath of the attacks, he has declared three days of national mourning and put security on the highest level, according to the Associated Press.
German chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday spoke about the Paris attacks. (Gobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the attackers who killed more than 120 people in Paris overnight “hate freedom.”
Speaking to reporters in Berlin early Saturday, Merkel expressed grief for those who died, saying “they wanted to live the life of free people in a city that celebrates freedom.”
She said the victims encountered “murderers who hate precisely this life of freedom.” Merkel said her country stands ready to help France in whichever way it can because the attack “was aimed not just at Paris, it targeted and it hits all of us.”
Germany has offered France the help of its special anti-terror unit in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas des Maiziere said in a statement Saturday that he is in touch with his French counterpart “and I have offered him the help of German special forces.”
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said de Maiziere had offered “all support, including special forces such as the GSG9.” The GSG9 anti-terror unit was created after the attacks on the Munich Olympics in 1972 and saw its first major operation during the hijacking of a Lufthansa plane by a Palestinian group.
Authorities warned Saturday that accomplices in the Paris attack could remain at large.
“To plan six attacks you need a lot of people involved, not only those who were at the spot,” a senior European counterterrorism official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post.
After the attacks in Paris, many Canadians attended a vigil outside
the French consulate in Montreal. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s newly elected
prime minister, issued the following statement:
“I am shocked and saddened that so many people have been killed and injured today in a number of terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and that many others are being held hostage.
“As the situation continues to unfold, Sophie and I join all Canadians in extending our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed. It is our sincere hope that the hostages are freed unharmed as soon as possible. We also wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured.
“Canada stands with France at this dark time and offers all possible assistance. We will continue to work closely with the international community to help prevent these terrible, senseless acts.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and we mourn their loss.”
“To plan six attacks you need a lot of people involved, not only those who were at the spot,” a senior European counterterrorism official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post.
From the Associated Press:
Some 1,500 extra soldiers have been mobilized to guard French facilities and schools and universities are closed because of the country’s deadliest attacks in decades.
Many French schools are normally open on Saturdays, but the French government ordered them shuttered as part of emergency security measures. Soldiers were deployed at key sites around Paris, including Parliament buildings and religious sites.
The government has also reimposed border controls that were abandoned as part of Europe’s free-travel zone.
Border and customs officers will check people, baggage and vehicles entering and leaving France by road, train, sea or plane, said customs official Melanie Lacuire.
Some 1,500 extra soldiers have been mobilized to guard French facilities and schools and universities are closed because of the country’s deadliest attacks in decades.
Many French schools are normally open on Saturdays, but the French government ordered them shuttered as part of emergency security measures. Soldiers were deployed at key sites around Paris, including Parliament buildings and religious sites.
The government has also reimposed border controls that were abandoned as part of Europe’s free-travel zone.
Border and customs officers will check people, baggage and vehicles entering and leaving France by road, train, sea or plane, said customs official Melanie Lacuire.
From
the Associated Press: A stadium, a concert hall, a succession of cafes
and bars around Paris. Attacks on several sites around the French
capital left more than 100 people dead Friday night. Here’s a look at
some of the targets:
1. Bataclan concert hall
One of the best-known popular music venues in Paris, the Bataclan
attracts a range of bands, and was set to host California-based band
Eagles of Death Metal on Friday night.
The attackers first sprayed cafes outside the concert hall with machine gunfire, then went inside and opened fire on the panicked audience, according to the Paris police chief.
As police closed in, they detonated suicide vests, killing themselves and setting off explosions.
The neighborhood around the concert hall, like many of the sites targeted Friday, is known for a vibrant nightlife. The club is on Boulevard Voltaire, in a trendy neighborhood at the intersection of the 10th, 11th and 3rd arrondissements, or city districts.
2. Stade de France
Two suicide attacks and a bombing were carried out simultaneously
near the national soccer stadium, where France and Germany were playing
an exhibition match.
The attacks occurred near two of the stadium entrances and at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to Gregory Goupil of the Alliance Police Nationale, whose region includes the area around the stadium.
He said at least three people died in the attacks.
French President Francois Hollande, who often attends national matches, was evacuated from the stadium. The 80,000-seat venue was built for the 1998 World Cup.
3. La Belle Equipe
The sidewalk terrace of this cafe on Rue de Charonne was showered in
gunfire, killing as many as 18 people, according to the Paris
prosecutor.
Emergency workers covered bodies splayed on the sidewalk of the traditional Parisian cafe, whose name is a play on the expression “Le Belle Epoque.”
4. Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge
Le Carillon, a bar-cafe, and the nearby Cambodian restaurant Le Petit
Cambodge were apparently both targeted with gunfire, killing around 14
people and leaving several gravely injured, according to the prosecutor.
They are at the junction of Rue Bichat and Rue Alibert
Witnesses described sounds like fireworks, before they realized the gravity of the situation and tried to find a place to hide, or flee.
1. Bataclan concert hall
Rescue workers attend to people evacuated from the Bataclan theater. (AP/Thibault Camus)
The attackers first sprayed cafes outside the concert hall with machine gunfire, then went inside and opened fire on the panicked audience, according to the Paris police chief.
As police closed in, they detonated suicide vests, killing themselves and setting off explosions.
The neighborhood around the concert hall, like many of the sites targeted Friday, is known for a vibrant nightlife. The club is on Boulevard Voltaire, in a trendy neighborhood at the intersection of the 10th, 11th and 3rd arrondissements, or city districts.
2. Stade de France
Police officers outside the Stade de France stadium after the attacks. (AP/Michel Euler)
The attacks occurred near two of the stadium entrances and at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to Gregory Goupil of the Alliance Police Nationale, whose region includes the area around the stadium.
He said at least three people died in the attacks.
French President Francois Hollande, who often attends national matches, was evacuated from the stadium. The 80,000-seat venue was built for the 1998 World Cup.
3. La Belle Equipe
Police search for evidence outside the La Belle Equipe cafee, the site of one of the attacks. (Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty)
Emergency workers covered bodies splayed on the sidewalk of the traditional Parisian cafe, whose name is a play on the expression “Le Belle Epoque.”
4. Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge
Police officers stand outside the Le Carillon, a bar-cafe where people were killed and injured. (AP/Thibault Camus)
They are at the junction of Rue Bichat and Rue Alibert
Witnesses described sounds like fireworks, before they realized the gravity of the situation and tried to find a place to hide, or flee.
A vigil outside the French consulate in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press/AP)
“I am shocked and saddened that so many people have been killed and injured today in a number of terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and that many others are being held hostage.
“As the situation continues to unfold, Sophie and I join all Canadians in extending our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed. It is our sincere hope that the hostages are freed unharmed as soon as possible. We also wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured.
“Canada stands with France at this dark time and offers all possible assistance. We will continue to work closely with the international community to help prevent these terrible, senseless acts.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and we mourn their loss.”
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