The world is collectively grieving for the imparted carnage in the streets of Paris, Friday night, with local French outlets since declaring the mayhem, ‘Blood Bath in Paris.’ Terrorist attacks which at last count have led to at least 160 deaths and scores injured.
Latest reports indicate up to 118 individuals alone dying after a police raid brought closure to a hostage crises at the Bataclan theater hall, with concert goers earlier in the evening having come to watch a music concert for rock group Eagles of Death Metal.
What led to coordinated Paris terrorist attacks killing 60, 100 hostages crises?
Instead concert goers would be treated to the morbid spectacle of two armed terrorists entering with AK47’s spraying bullets and throwing grenades into thousands of people before they started slaughtering people one by one.
The raid would lead to three terrorists killed according to French news channel BFMTV.
The ending of the hostage crises comes in lieu of a coordinated campaign of terror which saw a series of up to 6 attacks around various city hall marks, beginning 9.30pm local time, including the Stade de France, where the French soccer team was playing Germany, the Louvre art gallery, the Pompidou Centre and Les Halles shopping center along with Bataclan concert hall.
Attacks which included two suicide bombers igniting explosives, a gunman wielding an AK47 machine gun at one local restaurant, the Petit Cambodge and a city besieged with terror unlike it has ever seen since WW2.
Perhaps not coincidently the attack on the Bataclan occurred just 200 meters from Charlie Hebdo ’s newsroom, which in January saw the killing of 12 staff at the hands of Islamic radicals.
According to one witness, three assailants thought to be in their 20’s or 30’s burst into the concert hall with Kalashnikovs, wearing flak jackets in the middle of the concert, where they proceeded to indiscriminately shoot for up to 15 minutes into a crowd of thousands.
Reiterated a witness via France’s 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 facebook post just an hour ago told of the Deftones band and the supporting crew’s safety along with thanking well wishers.
Speaking in front of the Bataclan concert hall, President Hollande who himself had been earlier whisked away by his security team after attending the France/ Germany soccer match where he denounced the terrorist attacks, telling: ‘We will lead the fight. It will be ruthless.’
Paradoxically the attacks come as French authorities anticipated in recent months the threat of violence from Islamic radicals, perhaps as a result of the recent attack on Charlie Hebdo offices or the ongoing strains of Islamic groups who continue to live an existence devoid of French custom, ritual or expectations in self styled ghettoes. That along with the ongoing violence in the mid east between western forces who have unleashed countless attacks on the region have almost certainly led to a festering of simmering tensions.
Yet despite the anticipation of a probable attack, likely at the hands of a lone wolf, authorities will have their hands full explaining how a carefully coordinated attack was able to take place despite heightened surveillance at the hands of authorities in recent months.
To date, no group has claimed responsibility, but ISIS adherents are celebrating the attacks on social media.
In the interim, an estimated 1,500 soldiers have being deployed to the streets of Paris according to France’s Interior Ministry with the world now wrestling with who orchestrated the attack, for what purposes and when the rein of unyielding terror will finally end?
Paris attacks: Thousands sing national anthem during stadium evacuation https://t.co/CaWuePgZs5 via @mashable
— Gabrielle D. Rios (@gabrielledrios) November 14, 2015
Attentats à Paris : des attaques dans 7 lieux différents #AFP pic.twitter.com/2t3zJkZr02
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) November 14, 2015
A few preliminary observations about Paris. The politicizing of the attacks are in full force, with Obama saying “… https://t.co/fdKgihnJym
— Sebastian Edward (@SebaDiG) November 14, 2015
French media reporting some survived in concert hall by lying flat on ground between seats in gallery. #ParisAttack (@BBCkatyaadler)
— Jack Moore (@JFXM) November 14, 2015
Islamic State claims responsibility for attacks in Paris. https://t.co/wVHiYkU9ER rolling coverage @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/1HGDHHzFiY
— Melissa Hoyer (@melissahoyer) November 14, 2015