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Paris terror attack: Victims lay on the pavement in a Paris restaurant (AP) |
A series of attacks targeting young concert-goers and Parisians at popular nightspots killed as many as 150 people in the deadliest violence to strike France since World War II.
President Francois Hollande pledged that France would stand firm against what he called terrorism.
Here is a timeline on the carnage that happened in Paris:
9 am: Some 1,500 extra soldiers have been mobilized to guard French facilities and schools and universities are closed because of the country’s deadliest attacks in decades.
Many French schools are normally open on Saturdays, but the French government ordered them shuttered as part of emergency security measures.
Soldiers were deployed at key sites around Paris, including Parliament buildings and religious sites.
The government has also reimposed border controls that were abandoned as part of Europe’s free-travel zone. Border and customs officers will check people, baggage and vehicles entering and leaving France by road, train, sea or plane, said customs official Melanie Lacuire.
8:50 am: Germany has offered France the help of its special anti-terror unit in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas des Maiziere said in a statement Saturday that he is in touch with his French counterpart ”and I have offered him the help of German special forces.”
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said de Maiziere had offered ”all support, including special forces such as the GSG9.”
The GSG9 anti-terror unit was created after the attacks on the Munich Olympics in 1972 and saw its first major operation during the hijacking of a Lufthansa plane by a Palestinian group
6:25 am: Across the Persian Gulf, countries are condemning the mass terror attack in Paris that killed at least 120 people.
In the United Arab Emirates, the state-run WAM news agency said Saturday that Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent a telegram to French President Francois Hollande offering his condolences and pledging support for France. WAM said Al Nahyan also supported doing ”what it takes to face terrorism and eliminate it.”
In tiny Kuwait, emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah said in a statement that he offered his condolences, while stressing that ”these criminal acts of terrorism … run counter to all teachings of holy faith and humanitarian values.”
In Saudi Arabia, the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official denouncing Friday’s attack.
4:42 am: President Barack Obama has spoken by phone to French President Francois Hollande to offer the condolences of the American people for the attacks in Paris.
The White House says in a statement Friday night that Obama has reiterated the United States’ steadfast, unwavering support for the people of France, calling the nation America’s oldest ally and friend. Obama also has reaffirmed the offer of any necessary support to the French investigation.
The White House says the two leaders have pledged to work together, and with nations around the world, to defeat the scourge of terrorism.
4:33 am: The Paris prosecutor’s office says that eight attackers are dead after a string of attacks around the French capital, seven of them in suicide bombings.
Prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre told The Associated Press that the eighth attacker was killed by security forces when they raided a concert hall where the assailants had taken hostages.
She said it’s possible that there are terrorists still at large. She said at least 120 people were killed in the Friday night attacks overall.
4:18 am: Those who survived an attack on a Paris concert venue physically unscathed have been bused to a special crisis center for psychological support.
Some walked in dazed, their shoulders draped with emergency blankets.
Dozens of emergency workers and Red Cross workers in orange vests gathered in front of the building, the headquarters of Paris’ 11th arrondissement, or district. A few police officers in bullet-proof vests stood nearby.
After meeting with counselors, some survivors were put in taxis to head home.
They had been at the Bataclan concert hall for a show of American band Eagles of Death Metal.
4:12 am: President Francois Hollande says France will be ”merciless” against those behind the deadliest attacks in the country in decades.
Visiting a popular music venue where more than 100 people were killed in eastern Paris, Hollande called the attacks ”abomination” and ”barbarism.”
He called on the French to remain united. ”We will lead the fight. We will be merciless.”
He praised all the emergency workers offering to help throughout the long, emotional night.
It is unclear how many attackers were involved in the seven attacks, or whether any are still at large. No one has claimed responsibility.
3:10 am: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is calling the attacks in Paris ”an assault on our common human dignity.”
The Pentagon chief says ”the United States stands with the people of France and its vibrant, multicultural democracy.”
He is praising France as a NATO ally and a leader of the coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Syria.
2:51 am: The rock band U2 has postponed its Saturday night concert in Paris in the light of the deadly attacks across the city on Friday night.
HBO had planned to televise the band’s performance. Instead, U2 says in a statement that it is resolved to go ahead with the concert ”at an appropriate time.”
For television viewers, HBO said it would replace the planned show with the film ”Jersey Boys.”
U2 members say they watched in shock and disbelief at the unfolding events, and were devastated by the loss of life at the concert held by Eagles of Death Metal.
U2 members say: ”We hope and pray that all of our fans in Paris are safe.”
2:39 am: French police say they believe all of the attackers involved shootings and bombings in Paris are dead.
Micheal Cadot, the head of Paris police said Saturday that while all of the attackers are believed to have died, authorities are searching for possible accomplices in the attacks that left over 120 people dead.
2:33 am: Police in the U.S. capital have sent extra officers to the French Embassy and other France-related sites and high-profile locations after the attacks in Paris.
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release Friday night that the moves were being made out of an abundance of caution and that there is no imminent threat to the District.
The department says Chief Cathy Lanier has been in contact with federal and regional law enforcement officials since the attacks began.
2:16 am: The Paris police prefect said the attackers at the Bataclan rock venue blew themselves up with suicide belts as police closed in. He said the gunmen first sprayed cafes outside the venue with machine gunfire, then went inside the concert hall and killed more before the assaullt by security forces.
The prefect, Michel Cadot, said the one set of attackers was at the stadium and at nearly the same time the second group attacked within the city.
Cadot said all the attackers are believed dead, although authorities are hunting for any possible accomplices.
THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
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