November 2015: Paris Bataclan attack/hostage taking

[The Bread Guy]

"First reports" caveats apply as usual - this, from the BBC....

At least 18 people have been killed in several shootings in the French capital, Paris, as well as explosions near the Stade de France.

French media say at least 15 people have been killed near the Bataclan arts centre. A hostage taking is under way, with reports of up to 60 held.

Reports suggest some spectators are leaving the hall, with police raiding the venue.

Three explosions are also reported outside a bar near the Stade de France ....

More via Google News here.

 

[Tibbson]

I've been following this as closely as possible since the story broke.  At the same time I keep hearing our new PM's words about bringing refugees to Canada before Christmas.

:facepalm:

 

[RocketRichard]

Not good at all to say the least. Situation still unfolding. Stand by.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

France has ordered the closure of all borders and declared a State of Emergency.

The French military has deployed around Paris and the death tool is up to at least 35.  There is a hostage situation with hundreds potentially being held.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/paris-shooting-attacks-explosion-1.3318444

More explosions have been heard elsewhere. 

I've been following this as closely as possible since the story broke.  At the same time I keep hearing our new PM's words about bringing refugees to Canada before Christmas.

:facepalm:

Trojan horse in waiting

 

[ringo]

PM's refugees should be limited to Copts and Yazidis.

 

[Remius]

I've been following this as closely as possible since the story broke.  At the same time I keep hearing our new PM's words about bringing refugees to Canada before Christmas.

:facepalm:

Maybe we should wait before drawing any conclusions...

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Maybe we should wait before drawing any conclusions...

It's a valid point and one that will surely be discussed in the coming days.

 

[PuckChaser]

Maybe we should wait before drawing any conclusions...

 

[Remius]

It's a valid point and one that will surely be discussed in the coming days.

I didn't say it wasn't valid.  It is still an active situation.  Clearly coordinated and terrorism is a forgone conclusion.  Linking this to the refugee situation is premature.    We've seen plenty of occasions where false information and presumptions have been wrong and un helpful.  Let's wait and see and then we can do the political bashing after we have all the facts.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Maybe we should wait before drawing any conclusions...

:nod:

More via Twitter here and here - again, initial reports caveat* still apply.

* - Initial reports are rarely entirely correct - more attached.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I didn't say it wasn't valid.  It is still an active situation.  Clearly coordinated and terrorism is a forgone conclusion.  Linking this to the refugee situation is premature.    We've seen plenty of occasions where false information and presumptions have been wrong and un helpful.  Let's wait and see and then we can do the political bashing after we have all the facts.

If the terrorist turn out to be Islamic, it won't matter whether it's the refugees or home grown French Islamists. They will all be lumped together and it will come down on the heads of them all.

IF that's the case the Trudeau Liberals will have to rethink their stance. The PM is also going to have to get on TV and reassure the Canadian population that his plan is solid and safe. If it's not, and something happens here, their honeymoon will be over in spades.

 

[cupper]

Have a cousin who is currently traveling in Paris, was supposed to be heading to London tomorrow. Called his parents earlier this evening, said they were glad they decided to stay in the hostel and watch a movie. They are currently in lockdown, and most likely won't be heading to London anytime soon.

 

[Tibbson]

Maybe we should wait before drawing any conclusions...

Agreed but I think the western world should have drawn conclusions before now. The evil powers that be have been telegraphing their intent for some time now but political leaders don't seem to want to recognize it.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Agreed but I think the western world should have drawn conclusions before now. The evil powers that be have been telegraphing their intent for some time now but political leaders don't seem to want to recognize it.

For the moment, though, there are other threads to discuss the threats you refer to - the cancer victim's funeral may not be the best time/place to say, "I told him s/he shouldn't have smoked so much."  All about time/place ....

Everyone - how about we keep this to "whazzup?" for the moment, and comment more on the "who?" and "why?" a little down the road once things are over and cleaned up, OK?

Milnet.ca Staff

Meanwhile, this from the PM:

“I am shocked and saddened that so many people have been killed and injured today in a number of terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and that many others are being held hostage.

“As the situation continues to unfold, Sophie and I join all Canadians in extending our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed. It is our sincere hope that the hostages are freed unharmed as soon as possible. We also wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured.

“Canada stands with France at this dark time and offers all possible assistance. We will continue to work closely with the international community to help prevent these terrible, senseless acts.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and we mourn their loss.”

 

[cavalryman]

Periodic updates at the Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11995227/Paris-shooting-Many-feared-dead-live.html#update-20151114-2339

 

[dapaterson]

All the usual caveats about wikipedia, but their evolving article is at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks

At the very least, there's a decent collection of links at the bottom of the article.

 

[jollyjacktar]

They are reporting now that 100 hostages along with 2 shyteheads are dead.  They threw explosives amongst the hostages.

 

[kratz]

I have family who have moved to Paris, married and are employed there. I'm concerned for them, the extended family and their friends. I'm waiting to hear more concrete details.

 

[yayotheo]

I just looked at my news channel and they said its 120 victims so far when will we wipe those jihads from the face of the earth they don't belong here

 

[cupper]

From WaPo:

Paris rocked by explosions and shootouts leaving more than 140 dead

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/paris-rocked-by-explosions-and-shootouts-leaving-dozens-dead/2015/11/13/133f5bc2-8a50-11e5-bd91-d385b244482f_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-banner-high_paris%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

France declared a state of emergency and sealed its borders Friday evening after a series of apparently coordinated terrorist attacks struck at sites across Paris, leaving at least 140 people dead and scenes of horror and carnage outside a soccer stadium, at cafés and inside a concert hall.

At the Bataclan theater alone, at least 118 people were reported massacred by gunmen armed with assault rifles and explosives.

The attacks on half a dozen targets spawned panic and chaos in a city where residents and tourists had only minutes earlier been enjoying a cool and quiet November evening.

At the concert hall, gunfire and explosions rang out as security forces moved in on hostage takers who had stormed a performance by an American rock band.

Police said the attackers threw explosives at the hostages, in addition to opening fire on them. About 100 people were rescued when security forces stormed the building, French media reported. One official described the scene inside as “carnage.”

French television showed people evacuating the venue, walking out with their hands up. News media said the operation to secure the Bataclan theater was over and that three gunmen have been killed.

The president’s office said 1,500 French troops were deployed on the streets of Paris to back up police.

France’s BFMTV television network reported that an unknown number of attackers in Friday’s violence were still at large.

France’s deputy mayor, Patrick Klugman, said at least 118 people were killed at the concert hall alone. The final death toll was not immediately know but was expected to be considerably higher. The mayor’s office later put the toll at 140.

As the security forces began their assault on the gunmen at the theater, a Guardian journalist on the scene tweeted that medical staff were running toward it, carrying dozens of empty stretchers.

Outside a popular café, witnesses reported seeing piles of bodies in the street, the café windows having been raked with gunfire. Terrified fans stormed the soccer field after suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the stadium north of Paris.

The attacks were the worst in France in modern memory, and once again traumatized a country still reeling from three days of terror in January, when Islamist militants killed 12 people at the offices of the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, left four hostages dead at a kosher supermarket and fatally shot a police officer.

The explosions near the soccer stadium forced authorities to evacuate President Francois Hollande, who was among thousands watching a friendly match between France and Germany.

Hollande later went on national television to announce a state of emergency, including travel restrictions and the closing of French borders. He said security forces were continuing to battle terrorists in at least one location.

“We know who these terrorists are,” he said, without elaborating. “These terrorists want to make us afraid and seize us with fear. . . . This is a nation that defends itself.”

Police said at least 15 people were killed in the Bataclan theater, where a hostage-taking was underway, and 11 were slain at a Paris restaurant in the 10th Arrondissement, the Associated Press said in an initial report. An American rock band was performing at the time of the attack.

Witnesses said three or four men clad in black used assault rifles to mow down audience members at the concert hall.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which were nevertheless celebrated on social media linked to the Islamic State extremist group, a ruthless al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS and ISIL.

Within minutes of the first reports on the violence, Islamic State supporters created hashtags hailing “Paris in flames” and declaring that “ISIS is attacking Paris,” the Vocativ Web site reported.

“O crusaders we are coming to you with bombs and rifles,” a top propagandist from an unofficial Islamic State media wing tweeted in Arabic. He ended the tweet: “Wait for us.”

In Washington, the White House said President Obama “was briefed on the situation in Paris by Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.”

A somber Obama subsequently appeared in the White House briefing room to offer condolences and U.S. help “to bring these terrorists to justice.”

He said it was not just an assault on France but “an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share.” Obama added, “Those that think they can terrorize the people of France and the values they stand for are wrong.”

“We are going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people,” Obama said. He pledged whatever help he could provide to the French government and praised it as an “extraordinary counterterrorism partner.”

Obama, who is scheduled to leave Saturday for the Group of 20 summit in Turkey, said he spoke prior to the attacks with Hollande and plans to talk with him again in the coming days. “

“This is a heartbreaking situation, and obviously those of us in the United States know what it’s like,” he said. “We’ve gone through these kinds of episodes ourselves.”

“All of Paris needs our prayers tonight,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tweeted.

The Washington Post’s Ryan Weber, currently in Paris, reported that some of Paris’s main Metro stations were closed down on Friday night, including the one at the Gare du Nord, one of the city’s principal train stations.

Although Paris residents were urged to stay indoors, hundreds streamed down the Boulevard Magenta waving French flags, trying to reach the Stade de France stadium to show solidarity with the victims.

Mary Lou Dorio, the mother of Julian Dorio, the drummer for Eagles of Death Metal band, told The Post that her son and other band members managed to escape the Bataclan concert hall when the attack there began. However, the fate of several crew members remains unknown, she said.

“It was awful,” the mother said. She added that her son was at a local police station, where he was able to call his wife.

“It was a bloodbath,” said Julien Pearce, a French radio reporter, in an interview with CNN. He said he was at the concert and saw three or four young men dressed in black open fire on the crowd with assault rifles, firing at random as people screamed.

“They didn’t shout anything; they didn’t say anything,” he said of the assailants. “They were just shooting [at] people.” He said he saw at least 20 bodies. “Some were dead. Others were very badly wounded,” he said. Roughly 1,000 people were attending the concert in the relatively small venue, he said.

Pearce said panicked concertgoers scrambled over the bodies of the fallen as they tried to escape. He said he managed to hide in a small room off the stage, then ran for an exit when the shooting briefly stopped as the gunmen reloaded. He said he picked up a young girl who had been shot twice in the leg and carried her into the street on his back, then put her in a taxi to be taken to a hospital. “I don’t know if she made it,” he said, noting that she was bleeding profusely. “She was collapsing.”

Pearce said friends later told him that they heard the gunmen speaking in French to each other.

A State Department official traveling with Secretary of State John F. Kerry in Vienna said he was “closely monitoring events in Paris, and our embassy there is working to account for any U.S. citizens involved.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a Tweet: “The reports from Paris are harrowing. Praying for the city and families of the victims.”

Witnesses said at least three explosions were heard near the soccer stadium, two of them during the first half of the France-Germany match. Fans were barred from leaving the stadium after the match but were allowed to gather on the pitch.

“At first I had no idea what was happening; I thought it was fireworks,” a woman who gave her name as Sophie said on France 24 radio, describing the scene at La Belle Equipe restaurant, which was among several places that came under attack. “Reality came to me and all I could do was get to safety. I didn’t have the time to count bodies, but there were many. There was an American celebrating her birthday.” Sophie did not specify what happened to the American.

“The terrace was full of people; it was a very crowded bar,” she said. “I looked to my left and right. There were people crawling. . . . It was carnage from all sides.”

The French Foreign Ministry said airports would remain open and that flights and train service would continue, Reuters news agency reported.

American Airlines said Friday it was nevertheless delaying flights to Paris in response to the attacks there.

United Continental said its three scheduled flights would still depart for Paris on Friday evening from hubs in Chicago, Newark and Washington, D.C., as planned.

Also, link to WaPo's live feed updates:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews-live/liveblog/live-updates-attacks-in-paris/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-high_paris-blog%3Aliveblog%2Fpromo