Night of terror in Paris

Scores dead in multiple gun, bomb attacks

PARIS – France was in a nationwide state of emergency yesterday after a night of horror in Paris when gunmen sprayed restaurants with bullets, massacred scores of concert-goers and launched suicide attacks near the national stadium, killing at least 128 people and injuring 180, of whom 80 are critical.

At least eight militants, all wearing suicide vests, brought unprecedented violence to the streets of the French capital, in the bloodiest attacks in Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

Armed with AK47s and shouting “Allahu Akbar,” four of the group marched into a rock concert at the Bataclan venue in eastern Paris, murdering at least 82 people and taking dozens hostage.

“They didn’t stop firing. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere. Everyone was trying to flee,” said Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter who was at the concert by US rock band Eagles of Death Metal.

Hinting at their motives, the gunmen were overheard raging at French President Francois Hollande and his

military interventions in the Syrian civil war against the Islamic State group.

“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’,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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.

Hollande, speaking to the nation, said the attacks were “an act of war.”

He said the attacks on a stadium, concert hall and Paris café 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.”

Hollande said France “will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group.” France “will act by all means anywhere, inside or outside the country.”

He declared a state of emergency and announced renewed border checks along frontiers that are normally open under Europe’s free-travel zone.

France is already bombing IS targets in Syria and Iraq as part of the US-led coalition, and has troops fighting in Africa.

The attacks, on at least six sites, were launched in rapid succession.

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, including a popular Cambodian eatery in the trendy Canal St. Martin area, whose bars and restaurants heave with the young and the affluent on typical Friday night.

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, said Paris police chief Michel Cadot.

Another attacker detonated a suicide bomb on Boulevard Voltaire, near the music hall, the prosecutor’s office said.

Authorities said eight died, seven of them in suicide bombings, a new terror tactic in France. Police shot and killed the other assailant.

The Bataclan was the scene of the worst carnage.

Video shot from an apartment balcony and posted on the Le Monde website yesterday captured some of that horror as dozens of people fled from gunfire outside the Bataclan down a passageway to a side street.

At least one person lay 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.

As screams rang out and survivors ran over the injured or dead to make their ways to the exits or places to hide, the militants began executing the hostages.

“We heard threats from the gunmen. They were shooting the hostages one by one,” said Charles, who requested not to give his last name.

Along with around 20 others, Charles fled to a toilet and pushed through the ceiling and hid in the crawl space.

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 AP. He spoke on condition that his full name not be used out of concern for his safety.

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.

France has seen several smaller- scale attacks or attempts this year, including on a high-speed train in August when American travelers overpowered 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 mount attacks.

“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?” Jenkins said.

The Disneyland Paris theme park announced it would not open for business Saturday but billed the move as a matter of sympathy, not security.

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. –