Pray for Paris
On the evening of 13 November 2015 a series of coordinated terrorist attacks—consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings and hostage-taking—occurred in Paris, France and Saint-Denis, its northern suburb. Beginning at 21:16 CET, six mass shootings and three separate suicide bombings near the Stade de France occurred. The deadliest attack was at the Bataclan theatre, where attackers took hostages and engaged in a stand-off with police which ended at 00:58 on 14 November.
Who led the attack?
On 14 November, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attacks. Their motive was retaliation for French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and Iraqi Civil War. Hollande said the attacks were organised from abroad by ISIS, “with internal help”, and described them as “an act of war.” The attacks were the deadliest in France since the Second World War, and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.
Why attack on France?
France’s military has been involved in airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since 19 September 2014, known by the codename of Operation Chammal. In October 2015, France struck targets in Syria for the first time. ISIL specially mentioned the airstrike campaign when they claimed responsibility for the attacks.
France had been on high alert for terrorist threats since the Charlie Hebdoshooting and a series of related attacks in early January 2015. France had also increased security in anticipation of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, scheduled to be held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015, and had restored border checks the week before the attacks. The Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015 occurred in the 11th arrondissement (district) of the city, where the Bataclan theatre is situated.France witnessed several other smaller attacks throughout 2015, including the stabbing of three soldiers in Nice who were guarding a Jewish community centre in February; an attempt to blow up a factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in June, resulting in the murder of an employee; and a shooting and stabbing spree on a train in August.
Two Jewish brothers, Pascal and Joel Laloux, owned the Bataclan theatre for more than forty years until they sold it in September 2015. They had said that the venue had been threatened several times because of their public support of Israel. In 2011, a group called “Army of Islam” threatened the theatre because of this.
Before the attack, ISIL and their branches have claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks within the weeks leading up to the attacks. On 12 November 2015, twin suicide bombings took place in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 43 people. On 31 October 2015, Metrojet Flight 9268, carrying mostly Russian passengers crashed in the Sinai in Egypt, killing 224 people.ISIL’s Sinai branch claimed responsibility. Also, on the day of the attacks, ISIL’s lead executioner Jihadi John was reportedly killed by a US drone strike and ISIL lost control of Sinjar to Kurdish forces.
Timeline of the series of attacks
13 November:
- 21:16 – First suicide bombing near the Stade de France.
- 21:20 – Second suicide bombing at the Stade de France.
- 21:25 – Shooting at the rue Bichat.
- 21:32 – Shooting at rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi.
- 21:36 – Shooting at the rue de Charonne.
- 21:40 – Suicide bombing onboulevard Voltaire.
- 21:40 – Four men enter the Bataclan theatre and begin shooting.
- 21:53 – Third suicide bombing at the Stade de France.
- 22:00 – Hostages are taken at the Bataclan.
14 November:
- 00:20 – Security forces enter the Bataclan.
- 00:58 – French police end the siege on the Bataclan.
NOTE: All times are CET (UTC+1).
Details of the attacks at different locations
Seven distinct attacks took place, comprising four suicide bombings and six shootings. Three explosions occurred near the Stade de France and another onboulevard Voltaire; two of the Bataclan shooters also detonated their suicide vests as police ended the stand-off. Shootings were reported in the vicinity of the rue Alibert, the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, the rue de Charonne, the Bataclan theatre, and avenue de la République.
Stade de France explosions
Three explosions occurred near the country’s national sports stadium, theStade de France, in the suburb of Saint-Denis, resulting in at least five deaths. The explosions happened at 21:16, 21:20, and 21:53. At least 10 people were injured or killed in an explosion at a bar near the stadium at approximately 21:20, 20 minutes after the start of an international friendly football match between France and Germany, which PresidentFrançois Hollande was attending. The first terrorist detonated his suicide vest while trying to enter Gate J of the stadium, killing at least three fans. Hollande was safely evacuated from the scene at half-time, while the German foreign ministerstayed, and Hollande met with his interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, to coordinate a response to the emergency. The third explosion was at a McDonald’s near the stadium. Two of the explosions were heard on the live televised broadcast of the match; both coaches were informed by French officials of a developing crisis, but players and the audience were kept unaware of the danger until the game had finished, as the coaches kept the information to themselves.
Following the game, fans were brought onto the pitch to await evacuation as police monitored all the exits around the venue. Security sources confirmed that all three explosions were suicide bombings. The Wall Street Journalreported that at least one of the assailants had a ticket for the football match, but was hindered from entering the stadium at the security check, at which point he detonated his vest. The attacks were seven months before France hosts the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.
Rue Bichat and rue Alibert
The Le Petit Cambodge restaurant with a makeshift memorial of flowers, the day after the attacks
The first shootings occurred on the rue Bichat and the rue Alibert, near theCanal Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement. Attackers shot at people outside Le Carillon, a café-bar, at approximately 21:20. They then crossed the rue Bichat and attacked Le Petit Cambodge, a restaurant. According to French police, eleven people were killed at the restaurant, and an eyewitness said that one of the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar”. The assailants reportedly fled in one or two vehicles after the shootings. One of the vehicles was known to have had a Belgian number plate. Doctors and nurses from nearby Hôpital Saint-Louis were in Le Carillon when the attacks occurred and supplied emergency assistance to the wounded after the attack.
Rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi
Shots were fired at the terrace of La Casa Nostra, an Italian restaurant, on the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, south of the rue Bichat, by a man with a machine gun. The Paris prosecutor reported that five people were killed and eight were injured. An eyewitness reported a gunman firing short bursts.
Rue de Charonne
Two attackers fired for several minutes at the outdoor terrace of La Belle Équipe, a restaurant on the rue de Charonne in the 11th arrondissement before returning to their car and driving away at approximately 21:50. Police confirmed that 18 people were killed.
Boulevard Voltaire
Another attacker detonated his suicide vest on the boulevard Voltaire, also in the 11th arrondissement, near place de la Nation. At about 21:40, he sat down in the cafe Comptoir Voltaire and placed an order before detonating his suicide vest and killing himself. About 15 people were injured, one of them seriously.
Bataclan theatre massacre
A mass shooting and hostage taking occurred at the Bataclan theatre on the boulevard Voltaire in the 11th arrondissement. The Bataclan had been owned by a Jewish family for decades and was sold to new owners in September, 2015. The venue has been threatened repeatedly for sponsoring many pro-Israel events, including celebrations honoring Magav, the border police of the Israeli army. In 2008 masked pro-Palestinian protesters demanded that Le Bataclan stop hosting these pro-Israel events and stated that if they continued then Bataclan “…. will pay the consequences of your actions. The next time it will not come to talk.” In 2011 a group named “Army of Islam” threatened the Bataclan, apparently because its owners were Jewish.
The US rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing for roughly 1,500 people. The band was condemned by anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists for playing in Israel.
The band had played around five songs when the explosions occurred, causing confusion among the audience that these explosions might have been part of the show. At approximately 21:45, about an hour into the concert, three black-clad men with AK-47 assault rifles entered the hall. Witnesses heard shouts of “Allahu akbar” just before the gunmen calmly and methodically opened fire into the crowd. A witness said that he saw armed men enter the Bataclan, not wearing masks, and fire indiscriminately on the crowd. The attack lasted about 20 minutes, with witnesses reporting that the attackers also threw grenades into the crowd. A radio reporter, Julien Pearce, who attended the concert, described the attackers as calm and determined, telling CNN they had reloaded three or four times.
At around 22:00, the men started rounding up hostages, as police massed outside the concert hall. Between 60 and 100 hostages were taken. The band’s members escaped without injury. A witness who escaped the attack told a journalist that they mentioned Syria. One witness in the Bataclan stated that a gunman yelled, “This is because of all the harm done by Hollande to Muslims all over the world.” There were further attacks reported on police and first responders who arrived at the scene after initial reports of shooting inside the theatre.
At about 00:15, the police started an assault on the theatre after reports that the attackers had started killing the hostages. The siege ended at 00:58. Initial police reports indicated that an estimated 100 people were killed at the theatre; the toll was later revised to 87. Two attackers died by detonating their suicide vests. One was hit by police gunfire, and his vest blew up when he fell. The entire area was closed off after the attacks. The identification and removal of bodies from the theatre took ten hours, a process made more difficult because some concert attendees had left their identification papers with the Bataclan’s cloakroom.
Identification
Paris Public Prosecutor François Molins confirmed that seven known attackers were killed, though authorities continued to search for the restaurant shooters.
- Three attacked the Bataclan Theatre wearing black clothing and using AK-47 assault rifles. Two killed themselves with their suicide vests during the police raid on the theatre. The third was killed by police gunfire just before his vest detonated.
- Three suicide bombers detonated their vests near the Stade de France. A Syrian passport was found on one of the suicide bombers, according to the French Police. The authenticity of the passport was questioned and many analysts pointed out that false Syrian passports can be easily obtained. Minister of Citizen Protection in Greece Nikos Toskasannounced that one of the Syrian passport-holders had passed through Leros in October, documents and fingerprints have to be matched with the the actual attacker to establish whether he passed through Greece, or obtained the passport along the way. It was also reported that an Egyptian passport was found close to the body of another bomber. CBS News, quoting a US intelligence official, suggested that the document did not have the correct numbering for a Syrian passport and its picture did not match the name given.
- The seventh attacker detonated his vest on the boulevard Voltaire near the Bataclan theatre.
Comparison
Michael Leiter, former director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, said that the attacks demonstrated “a level of sophistication we really haven’t seen in an urban area since 2008 in the attack in Mumbai, India,” and that “this will be a game changer for how the West looks at this threat.” Further comparisons were made between the Paris attacks and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Government in action
President François Hollande issued a statement asking the French people to remain strong in the face of such incidents. Hollande also visited the Bataclan theatre and vowed to “mercilessly” fight against terrorism. Hollande also chaired an emergency meeting of the French Cabinet that night, and directed his national security council to meet the next morning. The authorities urged the residents of Paris to stay indoors for their own safety. Hollande also cancelled his trip to the 2015 G-20 Antalya summit because of the attacks, instead sending Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Finance Minister Michel Sapin as his representatives. On 14 November, President Hollande announced three national days of mourning.
Intelligence review
French police gathering evidence at the Bataclan theatre the day after the attacks
Shortly after the attacks, intelligence staff in multiple countries began to review electronic surveillance recorded before the attacks. The ranking Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said that he was not aware of any intercepted communications that would have provided warning.
One source said that the French National Police met with German police and intelligence services a month prior to the attack to discuss suspicions that terrorists were conducting surveillance of possible French targets. The exact targets were not known at that time.
Suspicions emerged that at least some of the weapons used by the attackers may have been stolen from a French military armoury in July.
Police in Germany stopped a car on 5 November and confiscated weapons.
Security changes
In response to the attacks, France was put under a state of emergency for the first time since 2005, borders were temporarily closed, and 1,500 soldiers were called in to help the police maintain order in Paris. The plan blanc (Île de France) and plan rouge (global), two contingency plans for times of emergency, were immediately activated. According to some English-language sources, Paris declared its first curfew in 70 years. In addition, Belgium tightened security along its border with France and increased security checks for people arriving from France.
Flights to and from Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport were mostly unaffected. American Airlines delayed flights to Paris until further notice.[141]Many Paris Métro stations in the 10th and 11th arrondissements were shut down because of the attacks. Uber also suspended car hails in Paris after the attacks.
Police patrol in Paris, the day after the attacks
All public schools and universities in Paris were set to remain closed the next day. Sports events in France for the weekend of 14–15 November were postponed/cancelled. Disneyland Paris closed its parks for the first time, in solidarity with those who died in the attacks; it had operated every day since opening in 1992. The Eiffel Tower, a Paris landmark visited by 20,000 people a day, was closed indefinitely According to The New York Times, as of 14 November 2015, “The capital is under a heavy police presence, and checks at France’s borders have been reinstated. Air travel continues but with significant security-related delays. Public protests—a constitutional right in France—are prohibited in Paris and some of the surrounding departments until Thursday. Many events ([14 November]’s U2 concert in Paris, as well as large photography exhibit) are canceled. Schools with classes or activities, cultural places and other venues (the Eiffel Tower, movie theaters, Disneyland Paris, department stores) are closed.”
New York and other cities in the United States took security precautions, particularly at sites where large crowds were expected, as well as sports events, concerts, the French embassy, and other French government sites. Singapore also raised its national security alert level, stepping up security precautions as well as border checks across the city-state. Police and military authorities in Manila were placed in full alert in preparation for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Social media and popular reactions
The hashtag #portesouvertes (“open doors”) was used by members of the public to offer shelter in Paris to those afraid to travel.
About the movement: Pray for Paris
In the wake of Friday’s deadly terror attacks in Paris, a simple and powerful image from artist Jean Julien has emerged as a symbol of support for the people of France.
Should we pray for Paris?
Following the November 13 attacks on Paris, which killed 127 and wounded about 200 more, Indian blogger Karuna Ezara Parikh posted an emotional poem to her Instagram account explaining why she believes people should be praying for the entire world, not just Paris.
“It is not Paris we should pray for. It is the world,” Parikh wrote in her poem. “Say a prayer for Paris by all means, but pray for more.”
Now, thousands of people are sharing her words online. We originally saw them over at BuzzFeed.
Here’s the whole poem, originally shared on Parikh’s Instagram where it has been liked over 20,000 times.
She also posted the poem to Facebook, where over 90,000 people have shared it. It’s being shared without attribution elsewhere, including Twitter.
Parikh included a lengthy caption explaining the inspiration for her poem.
Here’s the full caption:
I woke this morning deeply disturbed by the news from #Paris, but more amazed by the attention it received on social media. I understand Paris is a beloved and familiar space for a lot of people, but it troubled me that #Beirut, a city my father grew up in, had received so little attention after the horrific bombings two days earlier. It also troubled me that #Baghdad, a place I have absolutely no connection with, received even less attention after the senseless bombing that took place there last week. Worst of all, I found the understanding of the refugee crisis skewed and simplistic. If you’ve been following the journeys of the people leaving their homes around the world right now, perhaps you’ll understand why the words #SyrianRefugeeCrisis are just as devastating as #PrayForParis. It’s time to pray for humanity. It is time to make all places beloved. It’s time to pray for the world.
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