Paris attacks: Hollande blames Islamic State for 'act of war'

boozeman

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Paris attacks: Hollande blames Islamic State for 'act of war'


9 minutes ago


The near-simultaneous attacks in Paris that killed nearly 130 people were an "act of war" organised by the Islamic State (IS) militant group, French President Francois Hollande says.

He said the attacks, carried out by eight gunmen and suicide bombers, were "organised and planned from outside".

The targets included bars, restaurants, a concert and a high-profile football match. IS claimed the attacks.

Mr Hollande has declared three days of national mourning.

He raised the security threat level to its highest point and imposed a nationwide state of emergency. Hospital officials now put the number of injured at 300. Eighty are in a critical condition.

These are the deadliest attacks in peacetime France, and only the fourth time since WW2 that a state of emergency has been imposed. The last time was during a 2005 wave of riots in poor suburbs.

It is the worst atrocity in Europe since the 2004 Madrid bombings.


The night of violence unfolded soon after 21:00 (20:00 GMT) as people were enjoying a Friday night out in the French capital.

A gunman opened fire on Le Carillon bar in the rue Alibert, not far from the Place de la Republique, before heading across the road to Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia), killing at least 12 people.


Jerome Bartelemy survived the concert hall shootings: ''They told us to lie down... I saw him shoot someone, then I understood''

"We heard the sound of guns, 30-second bursts. It was endless. We thought it was fireworks," Pierre Montfort, a resident living close to Le Petit Cambodge, said.

A few streets away, diners sitting on the terrace of La Casa Nostra pizzeria in rue de la Fontaine au Roi, were also fired on, with the loss of at least five lives.

At around the same time, on the northern outskirts of Paris, 80,000 people who had gathered to watch France play Germany at the Stade de France heard three explosions outside the stadium.

President Hollande was among the spectators and was whisked to safety after the first explosion. It later emerged three suicide bombers blew themselves up at fast food outlets and a brasserie near the stadium.


Attack sites:

La Belle Equipe, 92 rue de Charonne, 11th district - at least 19 dead in gun attacks

Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant at rue Alibert, 10th district - at least 12 dead in gun attacks

La Casa Nostra restaurant, 92 rue de la Fontaine au Roi, 11th district - at least 5 dead in gun attacks

Stade de France, St Denis, just north of Paris - explosions heard outside venue, three attackers dead

Bataclan concert venue, 50 Boulevard Voltaire, 11th district - stormed by four gunmen, at least 80 dead


The attack on the 1,500-seat Bataclan concert hall was the deadliest of Friday night's attacks. Gunmen opened fire on a sell-out gig by US rock group Eagles of Death Metal, killing at least 80 people.

"At first we thought it was part of the show but we quickly understood," Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter, told AFP news agency.

"They didn't stop firing. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere. We heard screaming. Everyone was trying to flee."

He said the gunmen took 20 hostages, and he heard one of them tell their captives: "It's the fault of Hollande, it's the fault of your president, he should not have intervened in Syria".

Within an hour, security forces had stormed the concert hall and all four attackers there were dead. Three had blown themselves up and a fourth was shot dead by police.

Another attacker blew himself up in the nearby Boulevard Voltaire.

Police are trying to establish the identities of the attackers from body parts and other evidence left at the scene.

AFP news agency quotes sources involved in the investigation as saying that one of those who carried out the concert hall attack has been identified as a French citizen.

French media reports quoting police sources say a Syrian passport belonging to someone born in 1990 was found next to one of the stadium attackers. An Egyptian passport was also found nearby, Le Parisien reports (in French).

The paper quotes a spectator as saying one of the attackers was a woman.

Islamic State released a statement on Saturday saying "eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles" had carried out the attacks on "carefully chosen" targets, and were a response to France's involvement in the air strikes on IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

Shortly before, President Hollande said France had been "attacked in a cowardly shameful and violent way".

"So France will be pitiless in its response to the Islamic State militants," he said, vowing to "use all means within the law.. on every battleground here and abroad together with our allies".


As Paris reels from the events of Friday night, many municipal buildings as well as Disneyland Paris have been closed, sports events have been cancelled and large gatherings have been banned for the next five days. Residents are being urged to donate blood.

Police believe all of the gunmen are dead - seven killed themselves with explosives vests and one was shot dead by the security forces - but it is unclear if any accomplices are still on the run.

Police are searching for a black Seat car with foreign registration plates and alloy wheels which may have been used in the attacks.

From the moment that US-led coalition forces began to check the advance of IS's rampage across Iraq in the summer of 2014 it was inevitable the West would become their target.

France is especially vulnerable. Its open borders have allowed easy access to the powerful automatic weapons used in all the Paris attacks this year.

At the same time it has thousands of troops deployed overseas and it's been confronting jihadists on three continents.

Its controversial ban on the burka face veil for women has been interpreted by some Muslims as being anti-Islamic.

But if IS is indeed behind this weekend's carnage then, taken with their claim of bringing down the Russian airliner over Sinai in October, it marks an alarming step-up in their global reach.

Largely because of the ongoing civil war in Syria there remains a significant pool in Europe of returning jihadists, trained and inspired to carry out attacks in their own countries.


US President Barack Obama spoke of "an outrageous attempt to terrorise innocent civilians".

UK PM David Cameron said he was shocked and pledged to do "whatever we can to help".

The Vatican called it "an attack on peace for all humanity" and said "a decisive, supportive response" was needed "on the part of all of us as we counter the spread of homicidal hatred in all its forms".
 

L.T. Fan

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If this doesn't make a point about extremist muslin ideology nothing will. Even the orthodox Muslim groups should rise up and join the fight against them. There should be no reasonfor anyone to justify this act.
 

boozeman

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If this doesn't make a point about extremist muslin ideology nothing will. Even the orthodox Muslim groups should rise up and join the fight against them. There should be no reasonfor anyone to justify this act.
Eh, I doubt it, not with this weak administration.

Now if IS starts messing with Russia, you might see some serious action.

I do bet our damn gas prices hike up though.
 

Cotton

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Such a sad time we live in.
 

skidadl

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I've said it before and still believe it. Islam is the greatest threat to society as we know it.
 

Cotton

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I've said it before and still believe it. Islam is the greatest threat to society as we know it.
I don't think it is even close at this point.
 

Cotton

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The golden years for sure.

Now many of us are entering the silver years. Not you...you've always been old.
I turned 42 yesterday, so that means when I started posting on this board I was barely 30. I have matured so much since then. :unsure
 

jsmith6919

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:towel
 

Cotton

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:towel
:towel
 

Cotton

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It sounds like France is bombing the shit out of ISIS targets in Syria. :towel
 

Cowboysrock55

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:towel
I'm sure some liberals will find this offensive.
 
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