More than 150 people are reported to have been killed in the French capital Paris and Saint-Denis following attacks on 6 locations on Friday evening. Gunmen and suicide bombers targeted tourist popular venues and crowded places when they carried out these attacks, French Officials have reported.
The attack in Saint-Denis was carried out at the national stadium where the soccer match was underway. However, the worst carnage occurred at Bataclan where a rock concert performance was taking place; more than 100 were killed in this single location. Gunmen at Bataclan carrying machine guns randomly shot at people in the hall, execution style. Reports from eyewitnesses say the shooting lasted for over 10 minutes.
Paris police spokesman Michel Cadot told France Info radio that four attackers were killed, including three who were wearing explosives belts, at Bataclan during the police raid. Several others are still held hostage inside the concert hall.
World leaders have offered their condolences to the government and people of Francis following these attacks. In addition to condemning the attacks, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the immediate release of those held hostage.
United Stated President, Barrack Obama, said the attack was not just on Paris and the people of France, rather it was an attack “on all of humanity and the universal values that we share”. Obama went to offer America’s solidarity to her ‘oldest ally’ and offered to assist the government and the people of France in responding to this horrific incident.
“Paris itself represents the timeless values of human progress. Those who think that they can terrorize the people of France or the values that they stand for are wrong.” Obama said through a televised address from the White House.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the the German Foreign Office, expressed her deep shock and conveyed her country’s sympathy and solidarity.
According to French Officials; 112 were killed at the Bataclan theater, 14 were killed on Rue Bichat at the site of the Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, in the 10th district. Another 19 died on Rue de Charonne in the 11th district, outside a bar called La Belle Equipe while 4 were killed on Avenue de la Republique, in the 10th district. 4 others died outside the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
