Paris attack: Paris to answer war with pitiless war

ISIS threatens more attacks on ‘Crusader France’

Islamic State jihadists on Saturday 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.

An angry President Francois Hollande on Saturday promised a “merciless” response to the wave of attacks, describing the coordinated assault at six different sites, claimed by Islamic State, as an “act of war” against France. 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.

“Faced with war, the country must take appropriate action,” President Hollande was quoted by Reuters as saying after an emergency meeting of security chiefs. He also announced three days of national mourning. “France will be merciless towards these barbarians from Daesh,” he said, using an Arab acronym for Islamic State. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement: “The war we must wage should be total.”

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 holder of the Syrian passport found in Paris passed through Greece, Reuters reported.

Pressure grew from the French far-right with National Front party leader Marine Le Pen saying France must “annihilate” Islamist radicals and regain control of its borders. A man arrested in Germany in early November after guns and explosives were found in his car may be linked to the attacks in Paris, Bavaria’s state premier said, without giving details.

In its claim of responsibility, Islamic State said the attacks were a response to France’s campaign against its fighters. It also distributed an undated video in which a militant said France would not live peacefully as long it took part in US-led bombing raids against them. “As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear travelling to the market,” said a bearded Arabic-speaking militant, flanked by other fighters. “Indeed you have been ordered to fight the infidel... wherever you find him — what are you waiting for There are weapons and cars available and targets ready to be hit,” said an ISIS militant in the video, adding, “Even poison is available, so poison the water and food of at least one of the enemies of Allah.”

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,” President 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 on Saturday, 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 Bri-dge, Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate and New York’s World Trade Center all illuminated in the red, white and blue of the French tricolour.

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, doz-ens 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 President 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 US, the concert promoters said. As the heavily-armed police stormed the Bataclan at around 12.30 am (11.30 pm 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.”

In a statement posted online Saturday, 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”. Among the victims were at least three foreigners, including two Belgians and a Portuguese man, officials said Saturday. 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 pm local time (4 pm GMT) Saturday. Police were trying to identify the attackers’ body parts and screening hours of CCTV footage.

President 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 opening for several hours. President Hollande himself was hastily evacuated from the Stade de Fra-nce when suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the stadium during a frien-dly football international between France and Germ-any. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the attacks showed IS jihadists had stepped up their capabilities.