WASHINGTON — France is in an official three-day mourning in the aftermath of a series of seeming coordinating attacks at several different locations throughout Paris on Friday night.
The latest count is 127 people dead, and upwards of 200 wounded. Parisians lined the streets Saturday morning to donate blood for the wounded. Meanwhile, French president Francois Hollande has called the attacks and “act of war.” He confirmed Saturday that the ISIS terror was behind the attacks. ISIS also took responsibility in a statement, saying France and its supporters “will remain at the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State.”
THE ATTACKS:
The first of three explosions occurred outside the Stade de France stadium at about 9:20 p.m. (EST) on the northern fringe of Paris in St. Denis, where France were playing Germany in an international football friendly.
The game, attended by President Francois Hollande, was being broadcast on TV. Hollande was taken to safety after the explosions began.
It later turned out that two suicide bombers blew themselves up just outside.
Meanwhile, at about the same time, gunman sprayed three popular eateries and cafes with bullets. Police say the shootings occurred at the La Belle Equipe bar, Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia), La Casa Nostra pizzeria, and Le Carillon bar. According to the latest numbers, police say there were at least 12 people killed at Le Petit and at least 19 people killed in La Belle Equipe.
At the same time, gunmen stormed the Bataclan, a concert hall where an American band, Eagles of American Death Metal, shot and killed a number of people and then held those who could not escape, hostage.Tweets from within the hall described the carnage and some said gunmen were executing the concert goers one by one. French elite forces stormed the building, but not before the attackers detonated suicide belts. They were killed, along with at least 100 hostages.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that a number of those injured are American.
THE ATTACKERS:
According to the BBC: Police say there were eight attackers and all of them are dead. They include three that blew themselves up, and a fourth was shot by police at the Bataclan venue at the end of the concert siege. Another blew himself up a short distance away from the concert hall.
According to the Associated Press: A Greek official says one of the assailants in Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris whose Syrian passport was found at the scene crossed into the European Union through the Greek island of Leros in October.
Officials are now looking for accomplices.
Meanwhile, as of midday Saturday, the Belgium justice minister said “number of” arrests made in Brussels relating to Paris attacks.”
WHO IS ULTIMATELY BEHIND THE ATTACKS?
The Islamic State has taken responsibility for the attacks and French President Francois Hollande has confirmed it, calling the deadly shootings and bombings “an act of war.”
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
- The World Mourns with Paris, shows solidarity in face of attacks
- World leaders now meeting in Syria under the pall and pressure of Parisian attacks
- President Obama weighs in
- France has shut down its major attractions like the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre until further notice.
See photos:
- World Reactions
- The horror of the attacks
- Listen live to WTOP for updates and live interviews with correspondents in Paris.
