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| Dead bodies on the streets of Paris. |
Around 112 were massacred at the Bataclan concert hall alone, where terrorists were holding around 100 people hostage, and another 11 at a restaurant shootout yesterday evening. Police raided the theatre at around midnight, killed the three terrorists inside and freed the remaining hostages. Four policeman were killed in the operation.
Just five miles away, two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France sports stadium where the French football team was playing a friendly match against Germany. Five terrorists have been killed in the night of chaos in Paris.
French President Francoise Hollande declared a national state of emergency following what he called 'unprecedented terror attacks', shut its borders and deployed 1,500 extra troops to the capital.
Coordinated Attack By Muslim Terrorists
Terrorists launched a total of six coordinated attacks at high profile sites across Paris: Two suicide bomb attacks at a bar near the Stade de France led to President Hollande being evacuated from the stadium. He has since declared a national state of emergency.
Three terrorists with AK47s burst into the Bataclan concert hall, where rock band Eagles of Death Metal were performing. They sprayed bullets and threw grenades into thousands of people before they started slaughtering people one by one.
There was a shootout inside a restaurant on Rue Bichat, on Paris' 10th arrondissement, at around 9pm. At least 11 people were killed in the melee. Gunfire and bomb blasts have also been reported at the Louvre art gallery, the Pompidou Centre and Les Halles shopping centre.
Witnesses have been telling of the horror which unfolded inside the Bataclan theatre, where AK47 wielding terrorists shouted 'Allah Akbar' as they burst in and opened fire into a crowd of thousands.
They shot at 'very young' people in the violent attack which lasted around 15 minutes, said Julien Pearce, a journalist at Europe 1. The gunmen, who witnesses have described as young men in theirs 20s, reloaded three or four times as they gunned down innocent people at random.
'Three men with Kalashnikovs and wearing flak jackets burst in in the middle of the concert,' another man, a man named Hervé, told the Telegraph after escaping through an emergency exit. He said the men were not wearing masks, adding: 'They just started spraying bullets. I saw a girl hit right in front of me. There must have been quite a few dead.'
Two police officials said at least 11 people were killed in the restaurant shootout in Paris tonight. Another man said: 'The men came in and started shooting. Everyone fell to the ground. It was hell. I took my mum, and we hid. Someone near us said they have gone, so we ran out.'
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| More dead bodies lying on a street of Paris. |
Gilles Avel, who was at the Bataclan where the band Eagles of Death Metal were playing, said: 'We are all terrified, and have been told to get away as soon as possible.' A witness who was near the front of the concert when he saw a man wearing a cap firing into the crowd.
He told the Liberation newspaper: ‘He shot in my direction. People started falling and throwing themselves towards the ground. I think the guy next to me was dead. I went out of the emergency exit at the opposite end of the road. It was only once in the road that I started to see people covered in blood.’
A statement on Eagles Of Death Metal's Facebook page said: 'We are still currently trying to determine the safety and whereabouts of all our band and crew. Our thoughts are with all of the people involved in this tragic situation.'
The two explosions in a bar near the Stade de France stadium were detonated by suicide bombers, it has been confirmed. A witness said the explosions were loud enough to be heard over the sound of cheering fans. Sirens were heard immediately and a helicopter was seen circling overhead.
A 27-year-old man, who was just 30ft from the explosion, said he felt like he was 'in a video game'. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: 'There was an explosion in front of us. It was a very loud noise. At first I thought it was a bin that had been set alight. But then I thought it wasn't a fire cracker. Everyone stopped. A man was on the floor screaming. I don't know what happened to the man. I just heard him scream and move around the floor. He wasn't unconscious.'
As he approached the stadium door around three minutes later, a second bomb went off 15ft from where he was standing. He added: 'It was a very loud noise. I've never heard anything like it. My heart jumped. There were 20 of us. We started running. The match had started 15 minutes before. 'The doormen started locking the stadium doors... It was shocking to see. I thought, "that could have been me".'
Players briefly stopped in their tracks when they heard the twin blasts. Following news of the attack, thousands of fans - too scared to leave the stadium - poured onto the pitch.
Muslim Terrorists Killed 11 In The Asian Restaurant
Earlier in the night, an AK47 wielding gunman attacked a Korean restaurant in the Bastille area of the city, while grenade blasts were also heard. Police and other emergency services are at the scene, which is close to where the Charlie Hebdo attack happened in January.
Images posted online showed the cracked windows of what appeared to be the restaurant under attack. Dozens of people were standing outside their cars on the junction opposite and the lights of police cars could be seen above them. Eyewitness Ben Grant, who was in a nearby bar with his wife at the time, said he saw six or seven bodies on the ground.
He told the BBC: 'I was told people in cars had opened fire on the bar. There are lots of dead people. It's pretty horrific to be honest. 'I was at the back of the bar. I couldn't see anything. I heard gunshots. People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us. We were held up in the bar because there was a pile of bodies in front of us.'
Emilioi Macchio from Italy was at a bar close to where the restaurant shooting took place, and said it 'sounded like fireworks'.
Parris Is Under The State Of Emergency And A Curfew
President Hollande said last night: 'France needs to be strong. Terrorists want us to be scared. In the face of terror we must be united.'
'We have, on my decision, mobilised all forces possible to neutralise the terrorists and make all concerned areas safe. I have also asked for military reinforcements. They are currently in the Paris area, to ensure that no new attack can take place. I have also called a cabinet meeting that will be held in a few minutes.
'Two decisions will be taken - a state of emergency will be declared, which means that some places will be closed, traffic may be banned, and there will also be searches which may be decided throughout Ile de France [greater Paris].'
The state of emergency ordered by Hollande tonight is an exceptional clampdown on civil liberties. It gives the authorities virtual total power over the movement of people and vehicles at all times.
Curfews, travel restrictions and house
arrests are all in the power of the police. Closure of public places - as is
planned tomorrow - all come under the law and all media, movie screenings and
theatre performances are also within the strict remit of the government.
U.S. President Barrack Obama tonight branded the carnage in Paris an 'attack on humanity' and claimed it was an 'outrageous attempt to terrorise innocent civilians'. He said: 'This is an attack not just on Paris, not just on the people of France, it's an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share. This is a heart-breaking situation, and obviously those of us here in the United States know what it's like.'
David Cameron said that he was 'shocked by events in Paris' and pledged to do 'whatever we can to help', adding: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the French people.'
The restaurant targeted Friday, Le Carillon, is in the same general neighborhood as the Charlie Hebdo offices. France has been on edge since ISIS extremists launched a bloody attack on the satirical newspaper and a kosher grocery that left 20 people - including the three attackers - dead.
The attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo left 13 dead when two Paris born terrorists slaughtered its cartoonists and general staff members. Four Jewish shoppers were also murdered in the same set of attacks inside a Kosher supermarket in nearby Vincennes.
The French capital has been on a high state of alert ever since, with security services warning that another attack was always likely. Since then there have been a number of more minor strikes or attempts. In one, three Americans and a Briton overpowered a heavily armed gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris.
ISIS's online supporters have already started to celebrate the devastating attack in Paris, using the hashtag 'Paris in fire' on social media, but it has not been confirmed whether the terror group is behind the attacks.
(More than 140 dead in series of terror attacks: 100 are killed after hostages are taken at theatre. Kalashnikov-wielding gunman opens fire in restaurant. Two SUICIDE bombs detonate near the Stade de France. Gunfire at shopping centre.
As many as 142 people have been killed, several wounded in a series of terror attacks in the heart of Paris tonight. Up to 112 were massacred in the Bataclan concert hall where terrorists were said to be holding people hostage.
The terrorists shouted 'Allah Akbar' and 'this is for Syria' as they
burst in and opened fire, witnesses have said. Police raided the theatre at
around midnight, killed the three extremists inside and freed the remaining
hostages. French President Francois Hollande declared state of emergency for
whole country and shut all of its borders.)
