The French capital was the target of unprecedented carnage when a group of unidentified terrorists carried between four and six coordinated attacks throughout the French capital.
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At least 35 people were killed Friday in shootings and explosions around Paris, many of them in a popular concert hall where patrons were taken hostage, police and medical officials said. Police officials in France on Friday reported a shootout in a Paris restaurant and an explosion in a bar near a Paris stadium. A French police official is quoted by the Associated Press as saying at least 100 people were killed inside the concert hall.
The gunfire began soon after French President Francois Hollande said security forces were launching an assault on one of several sites targeted in attacks Friday night around Paris. President Hollande has declared a state of emergency and ordered national borders closed.
“The people of Manitoba extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to the survivors, friends and families of all victims of today’s horrific and senseless acts of violence in Paris, France”, the Selinger camp said in a statement.
The epicentre of the attacks took place at the Bataclan music hall during an Eagles of Death Metal concert, where dozens of people were taken hostage.
He called the attacks a “heartbreaking situation” and an “attack on all of humanity”. Witnesses in the concert hall described hearing attackers say “Allahu Akbar”. He was quickly evacuated.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attacks late Friday. And we want to be very clear that we stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and extremism.
Ten tour groups from Hong Kong with a total of about 250 people were now in Paris and all have reported they are safe, said Joseph Tung Yao-chung, Travel Industry Council executive director.
Crystal Palace defender Martin Kelly was said to have been in the restaurant where the shooting took place.
Local media reports President Hollande was removed from the stadium after the shooting. Whether a lot of them were killed by execution, bombing, or crossfire between the jihadis and cops remains to be seen.
“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.
At around the 15-minute mark of the France vs Germany game, which the hosts won 2-0 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Andre-Pierre Gignac, an explosion could clearly be heard outside the stadium.
Earlier around 40 more were killed in a Kalashkinov shooting inside a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement of the capital.
The French magazine Le Point also published a few witness reports about what happened at the corner of the rue Charonne and Faidherbe in the 10th Arrondissement. It was the worst incident of violence to rock Paris after World War II.
The president of the French Football Federation has said there are three people dead and more injured after a bomb exploded at the stadium. Coulibaly had killed a policewoman the day before, on January 8.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement that “we know of no specific or credible threats of an attack on the USA homeland of the type that occurred in Paris tonight”.
France has heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference that starts in two weeks, out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks.
“There were bodies everywhere”, he said.
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A Midwestern Francophile practically since birth, I attended French summer camp in Minnesota much of my childhood (no English allowed!), studied the language in high school and used my mediocre fluency as a “secret” language with my sister whenever we wanted to gossip at home without our parents understanding.
