Sunday Times 2
War comes to Paris
View(s):PARIS, Nov 14, (AFP) – Islamic State jihadists today claimed a series of coordinated attacks by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris that killed at least 128 people in scenes of carnage at a concert hall, restaurants and the national stadium.French President Francois Hollande also blamed the Islamic extremist group for the bloodshed and called the coordinated assault on Friday night at six different sites an “act of war”.
Soldiers walk in front of an ambulance as rescue workers evacuate victims near La Belle Equipe, rue de Charonne, at the site of an attack on Paris on November 14, 2015. AFP
Authorities identified the body of a French national known to the intelligence services near the Bataclan concert hall, where 82 people were killed by armed men who had shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest!”) before gunning down concert-goers.
Police sources said he was probably one of those who stormed the building as around 1,500 people were watching a Californian rock band.
The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of another of the assailants at the concert hall appeared to justify fears over the threat posed to Europe by extremism in the Middle East.The attacks, which saw the first-ever suicide bombings on French soil, were “prepared, organised and planned overseas, with help from inside (France) which the investigation will establish,” Hollande said.
Analysts at Eurasia Group said the attacks “confirm a structural shift in the modus operandi of the Islamic State, and represent a prelude to additional attacks in the West.” The streets of the French capital were eerily quiet yesterday, as authorities declared a state of national emergency following the worst attacks in Europe since the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
While many residents stayed inside out of fear, hundreds gathered spontaneously at blood donation centres while others flocked to place candles and flowers at the sites where people had died. The attack on the Bataclan took place a short distance from the former offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine that was attacked by jihadists in January.
Like those attacks, the massacre sparked an outpouring of emotion around the world, with London’s Tower Bridge, Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate and New York’s World Trade Center all illuminated in the red, white and blue of the French tricolore.
Corpses everywhere
Shocked survivors told how eight militants, all wearing suicide vests, stalked the city, indiscriminately gunning down people at bars and restaurants on a busy Friday night. In the worst of the bloodshed, dozens of people were mown down at a sold-out show by American rock group Eagles of Death Metal. The gunmen then began executing hostages one by one, witnesses said.
“They didn’t stop firing. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere. Everyone was trying to flee,” Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter who was at the concert, told AFP.
The gunmen were heard raging at Hollande and his decision in September to begin air strikes on Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
“I clearly heard them say ‘It’s the fault of Hollande, it’s the fault of your president, he should not have intervened in Syria’,” Janaszak added.
The band survived the attack but abruptly cut short their European tour and have returned to the United States, the concert promoters said.As heavily-armed police stormed the Bataclan at around 12.30 am (2330 GMT), three of the gunmen blew themselves up, while a fourth was hit by police fire.
A police officer who took part in the storming of the building told AFP: “It was horrible inside, a bloodbath, people shot in the head, people who were shot as they were lying on the ground.”
Targeting ‘Crusader France’
In a statement posted online yesterday, IS said “eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles” conducted a “blessed attack on… Crusader France” saying the targets were “carefully chosen”.
It also referred to French air strikes on IS in Syria, threatening further attacks “as long as it continues its Crusader campaign.” A total of 128 people were killed and 300 wounded, of whom 80 were said to be in critical condition. The toll does not include the eight attackers.
Among the victims were at least three foreigners, including two Belgians and a Portuguese man, officials said today.
France has been on high alert following the January attacks and narrowly averted more bloodshed in August when a gunman was overpowered on a packed high-speed train coming from Amsterdam.
No arrests had been made by 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) today. Police were trying to identify the attackers’ body parts and screening hours of CCTV footage. Hollande immediately declared three days of national mourning, and France will hold a minute’s silence at midday on Monday when flags will be lowered to half mast.
In a sign of the tension gripping the world’s most visited city, the Eiffel Tower was closed indefinitely and the main cinema chains shut on police advice. Disneyland Paris also said it would not open in a move of solidarity and several of Paris’ big department stores were also closed after initially.
| High security for APEC summit MANILA, Nov14, (AFP) – The Philippines put its police on full alert today and vowed “higher security” for world leaders at an economic summit in Manila next week after gunmen killed more than 120 people in Paris. US President Barack Obama is set to join the leaders of China, Japan, Australia, Canada and 15 others at an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit in Manila on November 18-19. “The Philippines and its people stand in solidarity with the people of Paris and all of France, in this time of deepest sorrow and gravest outrage against the perpetrators of these crimes,” President Benigno Aquino said in a statement. “There is no credible threat registered at this time, but let us all be cooperative and vigilant,” he said, adding the police were on alert and the security forces were evaluating security procedures. | |