Terror Attacks in Paris
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 7:49 am
Paris attacks: France vows 'merciless' response to unprecedented atrocity
November 14, 2015 - 5:09PM
France has vowed a "merciless" response to an unprecedented terrorist atrocity: six co-ordinated attacks that stained Parisian streets with blood and left more than 120 people dead.
Dozens more victims were reported to be in critical condition in hospital.
According to French media reports, all the attackers are believed to have died, most by detonating explosive suicide belts they were wearing.
However, security services have told Parisians to stay indoors this weekend amid concerns that other conspirators or supporters may remain at large.
No group has yet claimed responsibility. Jihadist groups on Twitter celebrated the attack, and security services are working on the theory that a trained cell of Islamist extremists was behind it.
Paris is in lockdown after multiple shootings across the city and two suicide bombs detonated close to Stade De France Stadium which was hosting an international soccer match. Photo: Reuters
A French policeman assists a blood-covered victim near the La Bataclan concert hall. A survivor sits on a bus after escaping from the Bataclan concert hall. Survivors board a bus after surviving the gunfire at the Bataclan concert hall. A survivor walks in the street after surviving the Bataclan concert hall terror incident. A victim makes a phone call as she walks away the Bataclan concert hall. A victim is evacuated from the Bataclan concert hall. Rescue workers help a woman after a shooting, outside the Bataclan theater in Paris. Investigating police officers work outside the Stade de France stadium after a suicide bomb was detonated during a match between France and Germany. An investigating police officer works outside the Stade de France stadium after an explosion. A woman is being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris. A man is being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris. A medic tends to a man in shock on a Paris street. Gunfire and explosions in multiple locations erupted in the French capital with early casualty reports indicating at least 60 dead. French fire brigade members aid an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall. At least 30 people were killed in attacks in Paris and a hostage situation was under way at a concert hall in the French capital. View all 28 photos
On Friday night around 9pm, two suicide bombers detonated their weapons at cafes close to the Stade de France, where President Francois Hollande was watching the national football team play Germany.
He was evacuated by helicopter, and the terrified, confused crowd spilled onto the field.
Meanwhile, gunmen wielding AK-47 assault rifles opened fire at three cafes in the north-east of Paris, where diners were sitting at tables alongside the streets. Scores of people were shot, and more than 30 died.
A group of attackers also entered the nearby Bataclan concert hall, where a rock concert was in progress.
In the dark, they calmly strafed the young audience, who panicked, fled or fell to the ground.
Radio reporter Julien Pearce was inside the theatre, where the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal was performing.
He told CNN he saw two terrorists with Kalashnikov rifles, wearing black clothes, enter the room and start firing randomly into the crowd.
People screamed and fell to the floor, he said.
"It lasted for 10 minutes, 10 horrific minutes … we heard so many gunshots," Pearce said.
The "calm, determined" attackers reloaded three or four times, saying nothing as they fired.
"They said nothing. They just shot. They were just shooting … it was a bloodbath."
Another eyewitness said the attackers fired from a balcony down into the crowd. A third person claimed to have heard the attackers shouting about France's role in the Syria conflict.
Benjamin Cazenoves wrote on Facebook: "I'm still at the Bataclan. First floor. Hurt bad! There are survivors inside. They are cutting down everyone. One by one. First floor quickly!!!!
He added: "Alive. Just cuts... Carnage... Dead bodies everywhere."
According to early reports three of the attackers blew themselves up, and a fourth died as police stormed the concert hall.
The attacks come just 10 months after the attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket by Islamist extremists.
The Bataclan theatre is just a few blocks from Charlie Hebdo's former office where the January attack took place.
Mr Hollande visited the theatre hours after the attack, which he called "an abomination and a barbaric act".
"France will stand firm," he said. "We are going to fight and our fight will be merciless."
US President Barack Obama led a chorus of world leaders condemning the attacks.
Mr Obama said US will do "whatever it takes to bring these terrorists to justice". France was an "extraordinary terrorism partner" and an attack on the French people was an attack on "all humanity".
British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed solidarity and offered any help needed.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was in Berlin on his way to the G20 Leaders Summit in Turkey, described the attacks as an assault on all humanity and "the work of the devil".
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks as "despicable", while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Atlantic defence alliance would stand with France "strong and united" against terrorism.
France has declared a state of emergency, for only the second time since World War II.
All festivals and public gatherings have been cancelled on Saturday. Schools and colleges are shut and the public transport system is also expected not to run.
Parisians have been told to stay home.
November 14, 2015 - 5:09PM
France has vowed a "merciless" response to an unprecedented terrorist atrocity: six co-ordinated attacks that stained Parisian streets with blood and left more than 120 people dead.
Dozens more victims were reported to be in critical condition in hospital.
According to French media reports, all the attackers are believed to have died, most by detonating explosive suicide belts they were wearing.
However, security services have told Parisians to stay indoors this weekend amid concerns that other conspirators or supporters may remain at large.
No group has yet claimed responsibility. Jihadist groups on Twitter celebrated the attack, and security services are working on the theory that a trained cell of Islamist extremists was behind it.
Paris is in lockdown after multiple shootings across the city and two suicide bombs detonated close to Stade De France Stadium which was hosting an international soccer match. Photo: Reuters
A French policeman assists a blood-covered victim near the La Bataclan concert hall. A survivor sits on a bus after escaping from the Bataclan concert hall. Survivors board a bus after surviving the gunfire at the Bataclan concert hall. A survivor walks in the street after surviving the Bataclan concert hall terror incident. A victim makes a phone call as she walks away the Bataclan concert hall. A victim is evacuated from the Bataclan concert hall. Rescue workers help a woman after a shooting, outside the Bataclan theater in Paris. Investigating police officers work outside the Stade de France stadium after a suicide bomb was detonated during a match between France and Germany. An investigating police officer works outside the Stade de France stadium after an explosion. A woman is being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris. A man is being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris. A medic tends to a man in shock on a Paris street. Gunfire and explosions in multiple locations erupted in the French capital with early casualty reports indicating at least 60 dead. French fire brigade members aid an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall. At least 30 people were killed in attacks in Paris and a hostage situation was under way at a concert hall in the French capital. View all 28 photos
On Friday night around 9pm, two suicide bombers detonated their weapons at cafes close to the Stade de France, where President Francois Hollande was watching the national football team play Germany.
He was evacuated by helicopter, and the terrified, confused crowd spilled onto the field.
Meanwhile, gunmen wielding AK-47 assault rifles opened fire at three cafes in the north-east of Paris, where diners were sitting at tables alongside the streets. Scores of people were shot, and more than 30 died.
A group of attackers also entered the nearby Bataclan concert hall, where a rock concert was in progress.
In the dark, they calmly strafed the young audience, who panicked, fled or fell to the ground.
Radio reporter Julien Pearce was inside the theatre, where the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal was performing.
He told CNN he saw two terrorists with Kalashnikov rifles, wearing black clothes, enter the room and start firing randomly into the crowd.
People screamed and fell to the floor, he said.
"It lasted for 10 minutes, 10 horrific minutes … we heard so many gunshots," Pearce said.
The "calm, determined" attackers reloaded three or four times, saying nothing as they fired.
"They said nothing. They just shot. They were just shooting … it was a bloodbath."
Another eyewitness said the attackers fired from a balcony down into the crowd. A third person claimed to have heard the attackers shouting about France's role in the Syria conflict.
Benjamin Cazenoves wrote on Facebook: "I'm still at the Bataclan. First floor. Hurt bad! There are survivors inside. They are cutting down everyone. One by one. First floor quickly!!!!
He added: "Alive. Just cuts... Carnage... Dead bodies everywhere."
According to early reports three of the attackers blew themselves up, and a fourth died as police stormed the concert hall.
The attacks come just 10 months after the attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket by Islamist extremists.
The Bataclan theatre is just a few blocks from Charlie Hebdo's former office where the January attack took place.
Mr Hollande visited the theatre hours after the attack, which he called "an abomination and a barbaric act".
"France will stand firm," he said. "We are going to fight and our fight will be merciless."
US President Barack Obama led a chorus of world leaders condemning the attacks.
Mr Obama said US will do "whatever it takes to bring these terrorists to justice". France was an "extraordinary terrorism partner" and an attack on the French people was an attack on "all humanity".
British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed solidarity and offered any help needed.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was in Berlin on his way to the G20 Leaders Summit in Turkey, described the attacks as an assault on all humanity and "the work of the devil".
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks as "despicable", while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Atlantic defence alliance would stand with France "strong and united" against terrorism.
France has declared a state of emergency, for only the second time since World War II.
All festivals and public gatherings have been cancelled on Saturday. Schools and colleges are shut and the public transport system is also expected not to run.
Parisians have been told to stay home.
