By Various Sources
French police say around 150+ people were killed by gunmen in a concert
hall in Paris as others were shot dead at a restaurant and died in suicide
bombings near the country's largest soccer stadium.The multiple attacks in the French capital are the worst terrorist attack
in the country's history.
Parisian authorities have asked people to stay in their homes in case
gunmen are still loose in the city and all of the city's metro lines have been
closed.
French President Francois Hollande said on French television that the
attacks were "unprecedented" and some operations were still
ongoing to hunt accomplice.
He has declared a state of emergency and said he had closed the country's borders. Some 1,500 French soldiers were also deployed in Paris.
Image Attribute: Twitter
Hollande has canceled his participation in the G20 summit on major world
economies in Turkey slated for November 14 and has called a Defense Council
meeting at the Elysee Palace.
First reports of the multi-pronged attacks were at a restaurant in the
city center where no less than 11 people were killed when at least two gunmen
opened fire upon them.
Many others were wounded and the gunmen are believe to have fled the
scene.
At roughly the same time, several other gunmen attacked central Paris's
Bataclan theater, where a concert by an American rock band, the Eagles of Death
Metal, was taking place.
The gunmen are reported to have taken dozens of hostages -- and French
security forces have since stormed the concert hall.
Eyewitnesses said two or three unmasked gunmen burst into the concert
hall while the show was going on and started randomly shooting people.
One of the assailants during the attack mentioned France's intervention in Syria's war to justify the attacks, said a
witness who was at a concert venue where some 100 people were killed.
"I clearly heard them say 'It's the
fault of (French President Francois) Hollande, it's the fault of your
president, he should not have intervened in Syria'. They also spoke about
Iraq," said Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter.
A wave of coordinated attacks left more than
150 dead in scenes of carnage in Paris on Friday, including scores massacred by
attackers shouting "Allahu akbar" during a rock concert and others in
a suicide bombing near the national stadium.
One reporter attending the concert told CNN that the shooting continued
for several minutes and people dove on the floor trying to shield themselves. The reporter said his friends at the concert had texted him that they had
hidden in the Bataclan in hopes of evading the gunmen.
The gunmen held dozens of people hostage in the concert hall, which was
stormed by an elite French force. Some reports said the gunmen were executing
hostages one by one.
Gunshots and explosions were heard in the hall during the special
forces' assault. Police said three gunmen were killed as the elite force took control of
the concert hall. The Palmdale, California-based band Eagles of
Death Metal were scheduled to play to a sold-out audience at the Bataclan
Concert Hall, with a line of people waiting outside.
MSNBC reported that some
of the 100 hostages trapped inside tweeted out that the terrorists were
starting to shoot the hostages one by one. French police seemed to quickly
mount an assault on the hall after those reports surfaced, killing two
terrorists. However, a French correspondent on MSNBC subsequently reported that
police discovered “a scene of horror” with the 118 dead bodies.
At least one
report said that the American band had earlier been taken to a police station
and is safe. Meanwhile,
Meanwhile, multiple explosions were heard north of the city center near
the Stade de France, where Germany and France were playing a friendly soccer
match.
The explosions occurred in the first half of the match and alarmed many
of the fans.
WATCH: Explosions Heard At The Stade De France
Hollande, Interior Minister Bernard
Cazeneuve, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier were evacuated
from the soccer match.
The match was not halted and spectators
gathered on the field after the game, afraid to leave the stadium.
Those people slowly began leaving the stadium
after being told it was safe to leave.
There are reports that at least one explosion
was detonated by a suicide bomber.
U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White
House that the Paris attacks were an "outrageous attempt to terrorize
innocent civilians."
He said the events are a "heartbreaking
situation" and an "attack on all of humanity."
Obama said he did not want to speculate about
who was behind the attacks.
"Whenever these kinds of attacks happen,
we've always been able to count on the French people to stand with us. They
have been an extraordinary counter-terrorism partner. And we intend to be there
with them in that same fashion," he said
Obama is slated to travel to Turkey on
November 14 for the G20 summit of major world economies.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is
"deeply shaken by the news and pictures that are reaching us from
Paris."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is
condemning "the despicable terrorist attacks" in Paris.
In New York, the police department said the
city was on a heightened state of alert and that counter-terrorism police had
been sent to crowded areas.
The attacks in Paris come just 10 months
after an attack by Islamist gunmen on the satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo
headquarters in the French capital that left 12 dead.
Image Attribute: Twitter
With reporting by RFE/RL, Liberation.fr, MSNBC, AP, AFP, CNN, and Reuters
