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Reuters

Danny Lee

Lana Lam

French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday the deadly attacks in Paris that killed 127 people were "an act of war" organised from abroad by Islamic State with internal help.
His comments came as Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned that France remains a "top target."
The country remains in a national state of emergency with restricted border control and movement of traffic.
READ MORE: Paris in shock after terror attacks: Parisians line up to donate blood and pay tribute as major attractions closed
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that all public demonstrations would be banned until Thursday and local governments would have the option to impose nightly curfews. He said police and military reinforcements would be deployed to key public buildings.
Many of Paris’ top tourist attractions closed Saturday, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum and the Disneyland theme park east of the capital.
Parisians expressed shock, disgust and defiance in equal measure. Hundreds of soccer fans departing the stadium Friday night waved French flags and sang impromptu choruses of the national anthem, “Le Marseillaise.”
The next morning, hundreds queued outside a hospital near the Bataclan theater, scene of the most appalling violence, to donate blood. As a shrine of flowers expanded along the sidewalk, a lone guitarist sang John Lennon’s peace ballad, “Imagine.”
Hollande said the attacks meant France would increase its military efforts to crush IS. He said France — which besides bombing suspected IS targets in Syria and Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition also has troops fighting militants in Africa — “will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group.”
In an official statement the group said its fighters strapped with suicide bombing belts and carrying machine guns carried out the attacks in various locations in the heart of the capital which were carefully studied.
The attacks were designed to show France would remain a top target for the jihadist group as long as the country continued its current policies, the group said in a statement.
"To teach France, and all nations following its path, that they will remain at the top of Islamic State’s list of targets, and that the smell of death won’t leave their noses as long as they partake in their crusader campaign," said the group.
It said “eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault  rifles” conducted a “blessed attack on... Crusader France.” 
"As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace," said one of the militants, identified as Abu Maryam the Frenchman.
"Terrorize them and do not allow them to sleep due to fear and horror," he added.
Speaking to the nation, Hollande said attacks on a stadium, concert hall and Paris cafe diners were “committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet.”
France is part of a US-led coalition conducting an air war against IS in  Syria and Iraq, where IS declared a caliphate last year after seizing swathes  of both countries.
It has carried out air strikes in Iraq for more than a year but extended  them to Syria in September. 
He said he would address parliament on Monday in an extraordinary meeting and the country would observe three days of official mourning.
As Hollande addressed the nation, French anti-terror police worked to identify potential accomplices to the attackers, who remained a mystery to the public.
Two French police officials say a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers who targeted France’s national soccer stadium.
The identities and nationalities of the attackers have not been released. The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to be publicly named.

Hong Kong today issued an amber travel alert for France, the first such warning against a major western country in at least seven years. The city's growing French community reacted with horror to the attacks.
READ MORE: Tears, anger and solidarity: Hong Kong’s French community reacts to Paris terror attacks
A succession of near-simultaneous explosions and shootings across six locations across the city.
Islamic State released an undated video on Saturday threatening to attack France if bombings of its fighters continue, a day after gunmen and bombers killed at least 120 people in Paris.
Watch: More than 100 people killed in Paris 'terror' attacks

French police are hunting possible accomplices of the eight assailants who terrorized Paris concert-goers, cafe diners and soccer fans in the deadliest peacetime violence to strike France.
A succession of near-simultaneous explosions and shootings across six locations across the city killed at least 120 and injured around 200 people.
World leaders united in sympathy and indignation, New York police increased security measures, and people worldwide reached out to friends and loved ones in France.
The violence raised questions about security for the millions of tourists who come to Paris and for world events routinely hosted in the normally luminous capital, where troops were deployed to support police trying to restore order.
One of Europe’s most heavily visited tourist attraction, the Disneyland theme park east of the capital, announced it would not open for business Saturday, a rarity.

Prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said authorities couldn’t rule out the possibility that other militants involved in the attack remained at large. Detectives tried to identify lower-level accomplices who may have played support roles.
Supporters of the Islamic State militant group, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria, said in Twitter messages that the group carried them out.
"The State of the caliphate hit the house of the cross," one tweet said.
French President Francois Hollande convened a special security meeting Saturday morning. He vowed to be “merciless” with the nation’s foes following what he called unprecedented terrorist attacks.
Reflecting fears in other European capitals of the risk of coordinated or copycat attacks, the British government scheduled its own emergency COBRA intelligence committee overseen by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Three suicide bombs targeted spots around the national stadium Stade de France, north of the capital, where Hollande was watching an exhibition soccer match between the French and German national teams.
Around the same time, fusillades of bullets shattered the clinking of wine glasses in a trendy Paris neighborhood as gunmen targeted a string of popular cafes, crowded on an unusually balmy November night. At least 37 people were killed, according to Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins.
The attackers next stormed a concert hall, the Bataclan, hosting the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, opened fire on the panicked audience and took members hostage. As police closed in, three detonated explosive belts, killing themselves, according to Paris police chief Michel Cadot.
Another attacker detonated a suicide bomb on Boulevard Voltaire, near the music hall, the prosecutor’s office said. 
The Bataclan was the scene of the worst carnage.
Video shot from an apartment balcony and posted on the Le Monde website Saturday captured some of that horror as dozens of people fled from gunfire outside the Bataclan down a passageway to a side street.
First I heard explosions, and I thought it was firecrackers
SYLVAIN, CONCERT-GOER RECOUNTS THE ATTACK
At least one person lies writhing on the ground as scores more stream past, some of them bloodied or limping. The camera pans down the street to reveal more fleeing people dragging two bodies along the ground. Two other people can be seen hanging by her hands from upper-floor balcony railings in an apparent desperate bid to stay out of the line of fire.

Sylvain, a tall, sturdy 38-year-old concert-goer, collapsed in tears as he recounted the attack, the chaos and his escape during a lull in gunfire.
“I was watching the concert in the pit, in the midst of the mass of the audience. First I heard explosions, and I thought it was firecrackers.
“Very soon I smelled powder, and I understood what was happening. There were shots everywhere, in waves. I lay down on the floor. I saw at least two shooters, but I heard others talk. They cried, ‘It’s Hollande’s fault.’ I heard one of the shooters shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,”’ Sylvain told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition that his full name not be used out of concern for his safety.
He was among dozens of survivors offered counseling and blankets in a municipal building set up as a crisis center.
After being whisked from the soccer stadium near the blasts, Hollande declared a nationwide state of emergency - the first in decades - and announced the closure of France’s borders to stop perpetrators escaping.
“A determined France, a united France, a France that joins together and a France that will not allow itself to be staggered even if today, there is infinite emotion faced with this disaster, this tragedy, which is an abomination, because it is barbarism,” Hollande said.
The Paris metro railway was closed and schools, universities and municipal buildings were ordered to stay shut on Saturday. However some rail and air services are expected to run.
"This is a horror," the visibly shaken president said in a midnight television address to the nation before chairing an emergency cabinet meeting.
Updated French front pages #Paris pic.twitter.com/OEuelpxzIH
— Philip Bromwell (@philipbromwell) November 14, 2015
President Barack Obama, speaking to reporters in Washington, decried an “attack on all humanity,” calling the Paris violence an “outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.”
A U.S. official briefed by the Justice Department says intelligence officials were not aware of any threats before Friday’s attacks.
Along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, they led a global chorus of solidarity with France and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "despicable attacks" and demanded the release of the hostages.

The Disneyland Paris theme park announced it would not open for business Saturday but billed the move as a matter of sympathy, not of security. 
Disney said in a statement it would remain closed “in light of the recent tragic events in France and in support of our community and the victims of these horrendous attacks.” Some 14.2 million people visited the attraction last year.
READ MORE: President Xi Jinping condemns 'barbaric' terrorist attacks in Paris as world leaders offer condolences and support
Paris is expected to host 80 heads of state, including Obama, for a climate summit in two weeks. In June, France is to scheduled to host the European soccer championship — with the Stade de France a major venue.
And Paris-based UNESCO is expecting world leaders Monday for a forum about overcoming extremism. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani canceled a trip because of Friday’s attacks. Hollande canceled a planned trip to this weekend’s G-20 summit in Turkey. 
French President Francois Hollande on Saturday told his Turkish counterpart by phone that he would send his finance and foreign ministers to the G20 summit in Turkey, Turkish presidential sources said.
President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Hollande to offer his condolences.
"President Erdogan reiterated that terrorism had no religion or nation and that the Turkish people were standing behind France. Both leaders expressed their determination to tackle terrorism," one of the sources said.

READ MORE: Amid chaos, Parisians offer refuge to strangers via Twitter
Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his condolences to the victims and their families in a telephone call to Hollande, according to comments published on the Chinese foreign ministry website.
China is ready to join France and the international community in stepping up security cooperation and combating terrorism, Xi said.
There was no reports of Chinese casualties, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing the Chinese embassy in the French capital. 
Ten tour groups from Hong Kong with a total of about 250 people were currently in Paris and all have reported they are safe, said Joseph Tung Yao-chung, Travel Industry Council executive director.
France has been on edge since January, when Islamic extremists attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had run cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and a kosher grocery. This time, they targeted young people enjoying a rock concert and ordinary city residents enjoying a Friday night out. 

France has seen several smaller-scale attacks or attempts this year, including an incident on a high-speed train in August in which American travelers thwarted an attempted attack by a heavily armed man.
French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who have traveled to Syria and returned home with skills to stage violence.
Though it was unclear who was responsible for Friday night’s violence, the Islamic State is “clearly the name at the top of everyone’s list,” said Brian Michael Jenkins, a terrorism expert and senior adviser to the president of the Washington-based RAND Corporation.
“The big question on everyone’s mind is, were these attackers, if they turn out to be connected to one of the groups in Syria, were they homegrown terrorists or were they returning fighters from having served” with the Islamic State group, Jenkins said. “That will be a huge question.” 
Watch: Fans sing La Marseille, the French national anthem, as they evacuate Stade de France

Julien Pearce, a journalist from Europe 1 radio, was inside the concert hall when the shooting began. In an eyewitness report posted on the station’s website, Pearce said several very young individuals, who were not wearing masks, entered the hall while the concert was under way armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and started "blindly shooting at the crowd".
"There were bodies everywhere," he said. “I saw 20 to 25 bodies lying on the floor and people were very badly injured, gunshot wounds.”
“Some of them were dead. Some of them were very badly wounded, but it was a bloodbath.”

Toon, a 22 year-old messenger, who lives near the Bataclan was going into the concert hall with two friends at around 10.30 p.m.(2130 GMT) when he saw three young men dressed in black and armed with machine guns. He stayed outside.
One of the gunmen began firing into the crowd. "People were falling like dominos," he told Reuters. He said he saw people shot in the leg, shoulder, back and several people lying on the floor apparently dead.
There was no immediate verifiable claim of responsibility but supporters of the Islamic State militant group which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria said in Twitter messages that the group carried them out.
"The State of the caliphate hit the house of the cross," one tweet said.
Camille, 25, said: “My sister is in the Bataclan. I phoned her. She said they opened fire. And then she hung up.”

Two explosions were heard near the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, where the France-Germany friendly soccer match was being played. A witness said one of the detonations blew people into the air outside a McDonald’s restaurant opposite the stadium.
The match continued until the end but panic broke out in the crowd as rumours of the attack spread, and spectators were held in the stadium and assembled spontaneously on the pitch.
Police helicopters circled the stadium as Hollande was rushed back to the interior ministry to deal with the situation.
In central Paris, shooting erupted in mid-evening outside a Cambodian restaurant in the capital’s 10th district.
Eighteen people were killed when a gunman opened fire on Friday night diners sitting at outdoor terraces in the popular Charonne area nearby in the 11th district. Police appeared to be still searching for suspects later.
There were also unconfirmed reports of shooting in other locations, including the central Les Halles shopping centre.
The Paris carnage came within days of attacks claimed by Islamic State militants on a Shi’ite Muslim district of southern Beirut in Lebanon, and a Russian tourist aircraft which crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Earlier on Friday, the United States and Britain said they had launched an attack in the Syrian town of Raqqa on a British Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John" but it was not certain whether he had been killed.
Reuters, Associated press, Agence France-Presse


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Paris terror attacks

'An act of war': French President Hollande vows to strike back at Islamic State for terror attacks in Paris that killed at least 127

A forensic scientist inspects outside of the Cafe Bonne Biere on Rue du Faubourg du Temple in Paris following a series of coordinated attacks in and around Paris late Friday. photo: AFP

Forensic scientists and police inspect the Cafe Bonne Biere. According to witnesses, at least 5 people were killed in the immediate area by attackers wielding automatic rifles. Photo: AFP

Gunmen had held concert goers at the Bataclan concert hall hostage, killing almost 100 people inside. At the same time, bombings were carried out in at least five other locations in the city. Photo: AP

Rescuers evacuate people following an attack in Paris. Photo: AFP

French Red Cross rescue workers evacuate an injured person near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris after a series of attacks in the French capital. Photo: AFP

French Red Cross rescue workers evacuate an injured person near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, on November 13, 2015. At least 39 people were killed in an "unprecedented" series of bombings and shootings across Paris and at the Stade de France stadium on November 13. AFP PHOTO / DOMINIQUE FAGET

French President Francois Hollande (centre) addresses reporters near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris. Photo: AFP

A person is being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris, Friday Nov. 13, 2015. French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency and announced that he was closing the country's borders. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Soldiers and police officers secure the area near La Belle Equipe, rue de Charonne, at the site of an attack on Paris on November 14, 2015 after a series of gun attacks occurred across Paris as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany. More than 100 people were killed in a mass hostage-taking at a Paris concert hall and many more were feared dead in a series of bombings and shootings, as France declared a national state of emergency. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE CONSTANT

TOPSHOTS Forensic experts inspect the site of an attack outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, early on November 14, 2015, after a series of gun attacks occurred across Paris as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany. A number of people were killed and others injured in a series of gun attacks across Paris, as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany. AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE

Forensic police search for evidences outside the La Belle Equipe cafe, rue de Charonne, at the site of an attack in Paris. Photo: AFP

People hug on the street near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal attacks in Paris, France. Photo: Reuters

Wounded people are evacuated outside the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theatre in Paris. Photo: EPA

Outside the Bataclan theater in Paris. Photo: AP

People are evacuated by bus outside the scene of an attack at the Bataclan theatre in Paris, France. Photo: EPA

Mourners in Hong Kong hold candles during a vigil held for the victims of the Paris attacks. Photo: EPA

President Xi Jinping condemns 'barbaric' terrorist attacks in Paris as world leaders offer condolences and support

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his condolences to the victims and their families in a telephone call to Hollande. Photo: Reuters

President Barack Obama said the US shares the values of France as he expressed support the country after the Paris attacks. Photo: EPA

French President Francois Hollande, left, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrive to watch the international friendly soccer match France against Germany at the Stade de France stadium. Photo: AP

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, said she was “deeply shaken” by the attacks in Paris. Photo: Bloomberg

People attend a vigil outside the French consulate in Montreal, Canada. Photo: AP

New York's One World Trade Center's spire is shown lit in French flags colours of white, blue and red in solidarity with France after tonight's terror attacks in Paris. Photo: AFP

French president Francois Hollande makes a statement at the Elysee palace in Paris, France following a series of attacks in Paris. Photo: EPA

Shanghai's landmark building The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is lit up in blue, white and red, the colours of the French flag, following the Paris attacks. Photo: Reuters

Taiwan's landmark building Taipei 101 is lit up in blue, white and red, the colours of the French flag, following the Paris attacks. Photo: Reuters

People stop to look at the sails of the Sydney Opera House that are lit in the colours of the French flag in Sydney. Photo: AP

Malaysia's landmark KL Tower is lit up in red, white and blue, resembling the colours of the French flag, in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP

World stands behind France: mourners condemn the terror attacks in Paris with vigils and landmark buildings lit to resemble French flag

A woman weeps at a vigil held by the local French community in Sydney. At least 127 people were killed in a series of attacks in Paris on Friday night, according to French officials. Eight assailants were killed, seven when they detonated their explosive belts, and one when he was shot by officers, police said. Photo: AFP

(From top to bottom, L to R ) : London’s National Gallery, London Eye ferris wheel, Toronto's CN Tower, Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Berlin’s Brandenburg gate, Taiwan's Taipei 101, Sydney's Opera House, Mexico’s Angel de la Independencia monument, San Francisco City Hall. Photo: Reuters

The Sydney Opera House was illuminated in the French national colours last night in tribute for the victims of the Paris attacks, in Sydney, Australia. Photo: EPA

Colors that resemble the French national flag are seen on top of the tower of One World Trade Center in New York. Photo: Xinhua

Participants observe a minute of silence with French Consul General Eric Berti, holding a peace sign featuring Eiffel Tower, during a vigil honoring the victims of the Paris attacks, in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

A young girl places a message on the railings of the French Embassy in Madrid, Spain. Photo: AP

The London Eye lit up in the colours of the French flag as a sign of solidarity with France after the terror attacks in Paris. Photo: EPA

The Christ the Redeemer statue is illuminated in France national colours in tribute to the victims of Paris terror attacks, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: EPA

'#RechercheParis': Parisians search for loved ones and offer refugevia social media after terror attacks

People hug each other before being evacuated by bus, near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris. Photo: AFP

Rescuers evacuate an injured person near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong issues travel alert for France, warns against 'non-essential' trips to Paris

People mourn the dead at a makeshift memorial near the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, two days after a series of deadly attacks. Photo: AFP

A couple conforts each other outside the Bataclan concert hall after a shooting in Paris, France. Photo: AP

Police officers gather outside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris, France. Photo: EPA

Jacky Cheung Shun-lai, spokesman for Kuoni, Travel, says there are no popular tourist spots near the hostage area adn the travel company will see how the situation develops and decide whether the tour should avoid Paris.

Pictures of victims are placed behind candles  outside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. Photo: AP

American rock group Eagles of Death Metal perform on stage at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, few moments before four men armed with assault rifles and shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is great!) stormed into the venue. Photo: AFP

Medical staff carry the body of a victim in front of the Bataclan theatre in Paris. Photo: EPA

Police officers gather outside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris. Photo: EPA

‘It was a bloodbath’: French witnesses describes ‘10 horrific minutes’ at packed concert venue in Paris

An injured man talks on the phone next to the Bataclan in Paris where a shooting and a hostage situation took place. Photo: EPA

A person is being evacuated after a shooting, outside the Bataclan theater in Paris, Friday Nov. 13, 2015. French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency and announced that he was closing the country's borders. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall. Photo: AFP

Firefighters evacuate an injured person near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris. Photo: AFP

A person is taken after a shooting at the Bataclan theatre in Paris. Photo: AP

French police with protective shields walk in line near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Gun and bomb attacks strike concert hall, stadium and packed bars and restaurants  


French police are hunting possible accomplices of the eight assailants who terrorised Paris concert-goers, cafe diners and soccer fans in the deadliest violence to strike France since the second world war. Gunmen systematically shot nearly 100 people at a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall, 40 others were killed in five other attacks at several bars and restaurants in eastern Paris, as well as the Stade de France national stadium.
