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Paris attacks

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Paris attacks
Paris attacks: Isis militant said to be Syrian who passed through Greece on refugee route – live
Three of eight Paris attackers were from Brussels, police believe
Statement claiming to be from Islamic State says France is ‘key target’
Attacks were retaliation for France’s bombing in Syria, Isis says
127 died in attacks, Hollande says; 200 more were injured, 99 critically
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People climb out of windows and run from the emergency exit as gunfire breaks out at the Bataclan
Contribute with guardian witness
Jessica Elgot, Claire Phipps and Jonathan Bucks
Saturday 14 November 2015 17.52 GMT

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Key events Show
20m ago Afternoon summary – what we know
52m ago ‘Number of arrests’ – Belgian justice minister
1h ago Syrian passport found on Paris attacker’s body belonged to refugee who passed through Greece
1h ago Three Paris attackers ‘from Brussels neighbourhood’
2h ago Police raid Brussels neighbourhood
2h ago Police detain Frenchman ‘with gun’ at Gatwick
2h ago Eagles of Death Metal cut short Europe tour
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20m ago17:35
Afternoon summary – what we know

Police have raided a Brussels neighbourhood where three of the attackers are believed to have lived, and made a number of arrests.
One of the attackers at the Bataclan is understood to be a 30-year-old French national, who was known to French police because of links to Islamic radicals.
A Syrian and an Egyptian passport were found on the bodies of the two suicide bombers who targeted the Stade de France.
The Syrian passport belonged to a refugee who passed through Greece, according to a Greek minister.
German authorities say they have ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ a man arrested in Bavaria earlier this month, in a car loaded with explosives, may be linked to the Paris attacks.
David Cameron has said the UK must be braced for British casualties, without going into specifics. Romanians, Tunisians, Belgians and a Swede are among the dead.
A 41-year-old man from France is being questioned by police after “what appears to be a firearm” was discovered at Gatwick airport, Sussex police said.
Islamic State has released a statement claiming responsibility for Friday night’s attacks and has threatened further attacks against France.
The group says the killings were in response to airstrikes against its militants in Syria, adding France would remain a “key target”.
President François Hollande also said Isis was to blame for the terror attacks across Paris that killed at least 127.
Hollande has said the attacks were an “act of war … prepared and planned elsewhere, with outside involvement which this investigation will seek to establish”. He added that France will be “ruthless in its response” and declared three days of national mourning.
The death toll stands at 127, while about 200 are believed to have been wounded, 99 seriously.
World leaders have voiced outrage, with many pledging to help France with the ongoing investigation. Barack Obama says America stood shoulder-to-shoulder with France. The Vatican has also condemned the attack as “mad terrorist violence”.
Updated at 5.45pm GMT
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43m ago17:12
Henry McDonald Henry McDonald
The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald reports on the comments from U2 frontman Bono on the attacks.

U2 lead singer Bono has said the Paris massacres, especially the attack on the music concert, was Islamic State’s first “direct hit against music”.

Bono said the bombs and bullets at the Eagles of Death Metal concert showed the attackers don’t like music.

“Our first thoughts at this point are with the Eagles of Death Metal fans,” Bono told the Dave Fanning Show on Irish radio 2FM on Saturday.

The U2 star added: “When you think about it, the majority of victims from last night’s attacks were music fans.

“So this really is the first direct hit on music we’ve had on this so-called war on terror.

“We know that they don’t like music … and this and the cold-blooded aspect of last night’s attacks are what are really upsetting because it means it could have been any of us.

Meanwhile Ulster’s European Rugby Champions Cup clash with French side Oyonnax was cancelled on Saturday due to the killings in Paris.

Ulster’s manager Bryn Cunningham said he fully backed the European Professional Club Rugby’s decision to cancel Saturday’s game.

“We fully support the EPRC in this decision – a difficult one and that’s why it took a number of hours on Saturday morning to make it.

“However, rugby is fairly insignificant in all of this. Our thoughts, prayers and sympathies go out to the French public.”

Updated at 5.32pm GMT
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45m ago17:09
A vigil in Lille has reportedly turned sour after anti-Islam protesters, carrying flares and a banner that read “Expel the Islamists”, clashed with those paying their respects in the city’s Place de la République.

— Dark Cheville (@jojo_lerigolo)
November 14, 2015
“Dehors les fachos” contre un groupe “anti-islam” … Lille République pic.twitter.com/EXsoLDtA4e

Updated at 5.27pm GMT
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52m ago17:02
‘Number of arrests’ – Belgian justice minister

Belgian police have made a number of arrests in Brussels in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, according to the country’s justice minister, Koen Geens.

Le Monde reports that a police raid in the Belgian town of Molenbeek is focused on the home of three young men who took part in Friday night’s attack in Paris.

The newspaper says that it involves a second team that fled the French capital on Friday night in a car.

According to witnesses, one of the cars used by the terrorists had a Belgian number plate.

Updated at 5.25pm GMT
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1h ago16:57
Visitors leave flowers at a memorial outside the French embassy in Washington DC in tribute to the victims of the Paris attack
Visitors leave flowers at a memorial outside the French embassy in Washington DC in tribute to the victims of the Paris attack. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Items are left outside the French embassy in Washington DC the day after Paris attacks
Items are left outside the French embassy in Washington DC the day after the attacks in Paris Photograph: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 5.00pm GMT
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1h ago16:48
European Union heads of state and institutions have issued a joint statement announcing a day of mourning across Europe on Monday, including a one minute silence.

It is an attack against us all. We will face this threat together with all necessary means and ruthless determination.

Everything that can be done at European level to make France safe will be done.

We will do what is necessary to defeat extremism, terrorism and hatred.

France is a great and strong nation. Its values of liberty, equality and fraternity inspired and inspire the European Union.

This shameful act of terrorism will only achieve the opposite of its purpose, which was to divide, frighten, and sow hatred.

Good is stronger than evil. Everything that can be done at European level to make France safe will be done.

Updated at 4.54pm GMT
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1h ago16:42
AFP is reporting that two Tunisian sisters aged 34 and 35 have been identified as victims of the Paris attacks.
According to the “provisional death toll, at least two Tunisians have been killed,” said the Tunisian minister for foreign affairs, Naoufel Laabidi.
Radio station Mosaïque FM reported that the sisters were celebrating a friend’s birthday on Friday evening when the attack took place.

Updated at 4.47pm GMT
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1h ago16:30
Syrian passport found on Paris attacker’s body belonged to refugee who passed through Greece

The holder of a Syrian passport found near the body of one of the gunmen who died in Friday night’s attacks in Paris passed though Greece in October, a Greek minister told Reuters.

“The holder of the passport passed through the island of Leros on 3 October 2015, where he was identified according to EU rules,” said Nikos Toscas, Greece’s deputy minister in charge of policing.

A Greek police source told Reuters that European countries had been asked to check the passport holder to see if they had been registered.

While this heavily implies that one of the gunman came into Europe along with refugees, Syrian passports are known to be valuable currency amongst those trying to enter Europe, and it is not yet confirmed whether the holder of the passport is indeed the perpetrator.

Updated at 4.47pm GMT
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1h ago16:26
Three Paris attackers ‘from Brussels neighbourhood’

Three of the eight attackers who killed 127 people in Paris on Friday night are believed to have come from the Brussels neighbourhood raided by police this afternoon.

French media reports that three attackers were from the Molenbeek neighbourhood, where police are currently carrying out raids.

RTL reports that the country’s federal prosecutor will make a statement this evening.

Updated at 4.27pm GMT
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2h ago16:15
Reuters reports that one of the gunmen who died after attacking the Bataclan theatre last night was a Frenchman from Courcouronnes suburb south of Paris.

Courcouronnes lies roughly 20 miles south of the French capital and five miles south of Juvisy-sur-Orge, home to Amedy Coulibaly, who was involved in the Charlie Hebdo shootings in January.

Coulibaly killed four hostages in a kosher supermarket in the Porte de Vincennes before being shot by anti-terrorism forces.

Updated at 4.19pm GMT
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2h ago16:11
Police raid Brussels neighbourhood

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP)
November 14, 2015
#BREAKING Police raid Brussels neighbourhood in connection with Paris attacks: Belgian TV

Belgian police operations are under way in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, according to Belgium’s RTBF and RTL television.

One man has been arrested, RTBF reported, saying its journalists had seen heavily armed police search several houses in the area.

Mehdi Nemmouche, the terrorist who attacked the Jewish Museum of Brussels, lived in Molenbeek after returning from Syria.

Updated at 4.22pm GMT
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2h ago16:00
A simple sketch combining two of the world’s most familiar images – Paris’s Eiffel Tower and the international peace symbol – has been adopted as a sign of solidarity with victims of the terror attacks in Paris.

Composition of handmade signs in support of the victims of the Friday 13 Nov 2015 Paris attacks photographed around the world
Composition of handmade signs in support of the victims of the Friday 13 Nov 2015 Paris attacks photographed around the world
The image has been scrawled on T-shirts, painted on banners and chalked onto the streets of Paris, with photographs posted on social media under the slogan Peace for Paris.

The image is said to have been designed by London-based French graphic artist, Jean Jullien. The artwork has gone viral on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Updated at 4.24pm GMT
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2h ago15:58
Police detain Frenchman ‘with gun’ at Gatwick

A 41-year-old man from France is being questioned by police after “what appears to be a firearm” was discovered at Gatwick airport, Sussex police said.

Updated at 3.59pm GMT
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2h ago15:54
Rowena Mason Rowena Mason
Downing Street said it believes a small number of British nationals have been caught up in the Paris attacks.

“Our embassy in Paris is working urgently with the French authorities to find out more and we have deployed additional consular staff and a team from the Metropolitan police to assist them with this task,” a spokeswoman said.

Around 400 people called the Foreign Office with concerns about British citizens in Paris, and most have now been located.

The union flag has been lowered to half-mast over Downing Street with the French tricolore alongside as a “clear demonstration of our solidarity with the French”, No 10 said.

Members of the public lay flowers on the steps of the French embassy in London.
Members of the public lay flowers on the steps of the French embassy in London. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images
The London Eye, the National Gallery, Tower Bridge and Wembley will be lit up red, white and blue tonight.

Cameron is still planning to travel to the G20 summit in Turkey tomorrow, where he plans to talk to other world leaders about how to “defeat this Islamist terrorism threat, whether in Paris, Ankara, northern Sinai, Syria or Iraq”.

Updated at 4.01pm GMT
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2h ago15:52
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has just finished speaking to the press after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, and announced 1,500 soldiers will conduct patrols in the heart of the capital.

He called for the public prosecutor to be transparent about the progress of the investigation, and said France was working closely “with other European countries to establish the identities of those responsible for these barbaric acts”.

A one-minute silence will be observed in schools and public institutions on Monday.

Updated at 4.01pm GMT
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2h ago15:45
Jessica Reed Jessica Reed
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has just opened a psychological support group for Parisians in the 10th arrondissement.

— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo)
November 14, 2015
Riverains, témoins, dans le 10e arrondissement, une cellule de soutien psychologique est ouverte à l’école du 155 avenue Parmentier.

Another group is available for the families of the victims at the Military School of Paris.

According to the Ministry of Culture, museums, concert venues and other cultural public spaces will remain closed in the Ile-de-France region on Sunday.

Updated at 3.54pm GMT
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2h ago15:44
Senior figures in both Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories have condemned the attacks in Paris.

Dr Bassem Naim, head of the Council of International Relations for Hamas, told AFP the group condemned “the acts of aggression and barbarity”, while Islamic Jihad condemned “a crime against innocents”.

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2h ago15:33
Eagles of Death Metal cut short Europe tour

Eagles of Death Metal, the US rock band that was playing at the Bataclan when gunmen stormed into the concert hall and killed at least 87 people, are cutting short their tour.

The band had been due to continue playing dates in Europe until December, including a concert tonight in Tourcoing in northern France, and on Sunday in Brussels.

“The group is going to return [to the US],” an official at promoters Nous Productions told AFP.

David Ian Hughes, brother of the band’s frontman Jesse Hughes, wrote on Facebook that he had spoken to the artist and “the band is ok”.

“My heart is actually in Paris tonight,” said Emily Dorio, wife of the band’s drummer Julian Dorio, on Istagram. “I’m saying a million prayers that my husband comes home safe and I’m saying a million prayers for everyone who won’t. I’ve never been so grateful and so heartbroken in the same breath of air.”

Updated at 5.52pm GMT
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3h ago15:24
Chris Johnston
Germanwings crash volunteers were at Stade de France as thank-you trip from airline

Airbus chief executive Tom Enders was at the Stade de France last night
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders was at the Stade de France last night. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
You couldn’t make this up: some 1,000 emergency workers and volunteers who responded after a Germanwings flight crashed in the Alps in March were at the Stade de France last night as a reward for their hard work during the tragedy.

They were taken to see the France v Germany friendly on a chartered train by Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings.

Airbus communications chief Rainer Ohler, who was at the stadium along with the company’s chief executive Tom Enders, said:

It was supposed to be an evening of French and German celebration and appreciation after that tragic event. We heard the explosions and at first nobody thought of terrorism.

It was only when President Hollande left and people started getting phone messages that we realised what was going on.

Enders said Airbus stood united against “barbarian attacks”.

Nous sommes unis! (We are united!) We are all impacted by the tragic terror attacks in Paris. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all the people in Paris.

Updated at 3.54pm GMT
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3h ago15:16
Dutch authorities have grounded a France-bound airliner at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport after receiving a “threatening tweet”.

A border police spokesman said the Air France KLM flight, which had been due to depart around 1345 GMT, had been halted for searches for around an hour.

Earlier on Saturday, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, announced there would be heightened security measures for all transportation going from or to France.

Updated at 3.29pm GMT
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3h ago15:07
Michel Delpuech, leader of the local authority in the Rhône-Alpes region, has said he would impose a curfew in Lyon if necessary.

I have not ruled it out, particularly if there are protests supporting terrorism or calling for similar attacks.

Lyon is France’s third largest city with a population of almost half a million. If a curfew were imposed, it would be the first time since the French riots of 2005 when seven local authorities took the same decision.

Updated at 3.21pm GMT
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3h ago15:06
London’s Metropolitan police says it will urgently review its approach to a potential firearms attack in the UK capital in light of Friday night’s wave of violence in Paris.

The Met police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: “The scale of the attacks and the range of weaponry used by the terrorists are a serious cause for concern. But the public can be reassured that our firearms officers are trained to deal with this kind of incident and we are constantly evolving new ways to combat the threats to public safety.”

Police had hundreds of investigations active and were making at least one arrest a day, on average, Hogan-Howe said. High visibility patrols will take place across the capital in the coming days.

Police officers view floral tributes on the steps of the French embassy in London
Police officers view floral tributes on the steps of the French embassy in London. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex Shutterstock
The Met’s assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the lead for counter-terrorism, emphasised that the police were very much reliant on information from inside communities.

“At the heart of success in countering terrorism, regardless of the operations we run and the arrests we make, is the relationship between the public and the police,” he said. “It needs to be stronger than ever.

“We as the police depend massively on information from communities; whether it’s about suspicious individuals or suspicious behaviours. We’ve had more reports than ever before over the last year. That needs to continue.”

Policing had been strengthened at ports and the public may noticed a bigger police presence at public events, Rowley said. “The term I would use is ‘to be alert, not alarmed’,” he said.

The public is asked if they see or hear anything suspicious to contact police or the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321.

Updated at 3.16pm GMT
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3h ago14:53
This is the emotional moment an anonymous man played John Lennon’s Imagine on a grand piano outside the Bataclan, where a small vigil has formed.

Updated at 5.51pm GMT
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3h ago14:50
Chris Johnston
Passengers arriving on Eurostar services from Paris today have had tearful reunions with family and friends at St Pancras station in London.

One Parisian woman, who did not want to be named, wept as she told how a female friend died in last night’s attacks.

Police patrol London’s St Pancras station on Saturday.
Police patrol London’s St Pancras station on Saturday. Photograph: Hannah McKay/PA
“She got shot in the head in a restaurant. She was 23 and her name was Justine. It’s just a nightmare,” the woman said.

Meanwhile, a group of students from Riddlesdown Collegiate in Croydon returned early from a visit to Paris. Soumick Dey, the school’s principal who came to meet the party at St Pancras, said the students were on the Métro when the attacks started.

“At the time when the trouble was beginning they returned to the hostel and stayed there through the night,” he said. “They managed to swap their tickets to come back earlier. They were close to some of the sites where the trouble was, but they were safe in the hostel together. It’s lovely to see them all safe back here now.”

Updated at 3.01pm GMT
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3h ago14:48
Chris Johnston
Twitter’s error message.
Twitter’s error message. Photograph: Twitter
Twitter doesn’t seem able to cope with the volume of traffic searching for the hashtag #ParisAttacks (or just ‘Paris’ for that matter)…

Updated at 3.10pm GMT
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3h ago14:45
A candlelight vigil is to be held in London’s Trafalgar Square at 9pm tonight in honour of those killed in last night’s attacks in Paris.
Théophile Rampal and Jean-Dominique Nguélé, two London-based Frenchmen, have organised the vigil and say police have agreed to cover it. A Facebook event suggests more than 2,000 people are expected to attend.
Vigils have also been planned in Glasgow and Liverpool.

A small crowd has already assembled in Trafalgar Square in London
A small crowd has already assembled in Trafalgar Square in London. Photograph: Hannah McKay/PA
People holding placards take part in an impromptu vigil in Trafalgar Square.
People holding placards take part in an impromptu vigil in Trafalgar Square. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP
Updated at 3.00pm GMT
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3h ago14:43
Americans among those injured in Paris, says State Department

A US State Department spokesman has said the government believes American citizens are among the injured in the Paris terror attacks.

Mark Toner would not say if any citizens had been killed.

“The US embassy in Paris is working around the clock to assist American citizens affected by this tragedy,” he said.

Updated at 2.58pm GMT
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3h ago14:40
Peter Walker Peter Walker
The Guardian’s Peter Walker has been covering the search for possible victims of the attack by distraught relatives.

Friends of a British man said to be working with the American rock groupat whose gig 87 people were shot dead posted messages saying they feared for his safety.

With David Cameron warning the UK to be prepared for a number of British casualties, friends of Nick Alexander, reported to be from Colchester in Essex, said they were deeply worried. Alexander had been running merchandise sales for the rock group Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan theatre, where two gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons.

“I have just woken up to heartbreaking news that my good friend Nick Alexander has been a victim of the Paris tragedy at the Bataclan. He was one of the best people I knew and I still can’t wrap my head around it,” read one friend’s Facebook update. Other friends tweeted of their concerns.

You can read the full piece here:

Lawyer first confirmed fatality named after Paris terror attacks
LSE tweets tribute to alumnus Valentin Ribet as social media search gets under way to identify victims from attacks on French capital
Read more
Updated at 2.58pm GMT
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3h ago14:32
People embrace outside Le Carillon, one of the places attacked
People embrace outside Le Carillon, one of the places attacked Photograph: James Gourley/Rex Shutterstock
Flowers outside Le Carillon
Flowers outside Le Carillon Photograph: James Gourley/Rex Shutterstock
Bullet holes in the Cafe Bonne Biere in the Rue de la Fontaine au Roi
Bullet holes in the Cafe Bonne Biere in the Rue de la Fontaine au Roi Photograph: Uwe Anspach/dpa/Corbis
Two women hug in condolence at the monument at Place de la République
Two women hug in condolence at the monument at Place de la République Photograph: Yann Schreiber/Barcroft USA
Updated at 2.40pm GMT
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3h ago14:29
Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of the Front National, has been speaking on French television:

For the sixth time in 2015, Islamist terrorism has struck our country. France mourns her dead and I mourn with her. I pay tribute to the dedication of our armed forces.

France must determine who its friends are and who its enemies are. France’s enemies are those who maintain links with Islamism. Once and for all, France must recapture control of its borders.

Islamist fundamentalism must be destroyed, radical mosques must be closed and radicals clerics must be expelled. French terrorists must be stripped of their citizenship and banned from this country.

Marine Le Pen delivers an address in Nanterre, Paris, in response to Friday night’s terror attacks that killed at least 127 people.
Marine Le Pen delivers an address in Nanterre, Paris, in response to Friday night’s terror attacks that killed at least 127 people. Photograph: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 2.43pm GMT
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3h ago14:27
The London School of Economics has posted a tribute to a former student, Valentin Ribet, who it said was a victim of the attacks in Paris.

— LSE (@LSEnews)
November 14, 2015
We have learned of some very sad news from our LSE alumni community, following the #ParisAttacks. pic.twitter.com/NZVsG6PDLh

Updated at 2.43pm GMT
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4h ago14:16
Poland has announced it will no longer take refugees via an EU programme, in a deeply controversial statement that linked the crisis to the killings in Paris.

“The European council’s decisions, which we criticised, on the relocation of refugees and immigrants to all EU countries are part of European law,” European affairs minister Konrad Szymanski wrote on the right-leaning website wPolityce.pl.

“After the tragic events of Paris we do not see the political possibility of respecting them,” he said.

Under the EU relocation plan, 160,000 refugees registered in the frontline states of Greece and Italy were to be relocated around the 28-member bloc, but there has been fierce resistance from several eastern European countries.

Polish president Andrzej Duda places flowers and lights a candle for the victims of the Paris attacks in front of the French embassy in Warsaw.
Polish president Andrzej Duda places flowers and lights a candle for the victims of the Paris attacks in front of the French embassy in Warsaw. Photograph: Jacek Turczyk/EPA
Updated at 2.26pm GMT
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4h ago14:11
Ian Traynor Ian Traynor
The Guardian’s Europe editor, Ian Traynor, has more on the German arrest linked to the Paris attack.

A 51-year-old Montenegrin detained in Germany after his car was found to be laden with weaponry and explosives is being linked to the Paris plot. The man was arrested in Bavaria near the Austrian border on 5 November, according to Bavarian public radio.

A pistol was found under the engine hood of his Volkswagen Golf, prompting an alert, according to the radio’s veteran and reputable crime reporter, citing regional police sources.

The Bavarian government confirmed the report, stating that the interior ministry was “intensively investigating together with the French authorities whether there is a connection with the events in Paris.”

Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian interior minister, said: “Someone transporting several kalashnikovs, hand grenades, and explosives could be from the serious crime sector.

“But there are reasons to suspect that this is about terrorist intentions, or someone supplying weapons to terrorists.”

Examination of the suspect’s mobile phone and of the car’s GPS system indicated he was en route to Paris, German media reports said.

Police experts impounded the vehicle and took it apart – to reveal a sophisticated operation with automatic weapons, 200 grammes of TNT, hand grenades, and ammunition carefully concealed in the car’s bodywork, according to the reports.

Bavarian investigators immediately alerted the French authorities after the man was arrested, the report said.

Updated at 2.15pm GMT
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4h ago14:09
AFP are quoting police sources saying a Frenchman was one of the perpetrators of the Bataclan attack.

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP)
November 14, 2015
#BREAKING Frenchman identified as possible concert hall attacker: police sources

Updated at 2.15pm GMT
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4h ago13:58
Guardian reporter Kevin Rawlinson has more about the evacuation of Gatwick airport’s north terminal, which we reported earlier.

Explosives experts are inspecting an item discarded at Gatwick airport, police say. A terminal was evacuated as a precautionary measure and the man who abandoned the item in question has been arrested.

Police were called on Saturday morning to reports of “suspicious actions” on the man’s part. They said explosives ordnance disposal specialists were at the scene but that it was too early to determine what the item was.

“Given the events in Paris on Friday evening, there is heightened awareness around any such incident and it is best that we treat the matter in all seriousness,” said Det Supt Nick May of Sussex police.

“We are aware that there is concern about what has happened in France, but the general threat level remains the same and people should be aware as usual of anyone acting suspiciously.”

The north terminal was evacuated.

“Roads around the terminal are also temporarily closed and there is no access for vehicles,” a statement from Gatwick airport said. “If you are due to fly from north terminal this afternoon, please contact your airline for the latest flight information. If you are meeting a passenger arriving at NT, they will now arrive at south terminal.”

Updated at 2.09pm GMT
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4h ago13:57
Paris attackers ‘had French, Egyptian and Syrian passports’

The French newspaper Libération reports that one of the terrorists who carried out the Bataclan shooting has been confirmed as a French extremist who was known to police.

It also reports that an Egyptian passport was found on one of the attackers the Stade de France, as well as a Syrian passport. Neither man has had their identity confirmed by officials.

The paper’s police and justice correspondent, Willy Le Devin, says police have identified the 30-year-old French national by his fingerprints, and confirmed he was known to police.

— Willy Le Devin (@Will_ld)
November 14, 2015
Confirmation : l’un des terroristes du #Bataclan est un français connu des services pour sa radicalisation. Identifié via empreintes.

He says a Syrian passport was retrieved from one attacker at the Stade de France but the body has not been formally identified.

— Willy Le Devin (@Will_ld)
November 14, 2015
Le passeport syrien a été retrouvé à côté d’un corps déchiqueté. Pas d’identification confirmée donc #attentatparis

An Egyptian passport was also found at the scene of the stadium attack, he tweets.

— Willy Le Devin (@Will_ld)
November 14, 2015
Un passeport egyptien a également été retrouvé au Stade de France #parisattentats

Updated at 2.36pm GMT
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4h ago13:48
‘Reasonable grounds to believe’ German arrest is related to Paris attacks

Bavaria’s state premier has said police have grounds to believe a man arrested in the southern German state in early November may be linked to the Paris attacks, after guns and explosives were found in his car.

“There are reasonable grounds for presuming that it might be related to the matter,” Horst Seehofer said in a speech at a local party congress of the Christian Democrats.

A spokesman for Bavarian police said they arrested the 51-year-old on 5 November, but dismissed any talk of a link to Paris as “pure media speculation”.

Updated at 1.51pm GMT
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4h ago13:39
England v France friendly to go ahead

The French Football Federation (FFF) has announced that the planned friendly match with England at Wembley stadium in London will go ahead.

“After discussions which established there is no special hazard preventing the holding of the match, we have decided to hold the fixture,” said a FFF spokesman.

The situation may change, he said, if the Football Association in the UK were to take a different view.

Updated at 2.41pm GMT
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4h ago13:35
At least two Belgian nationals were killed in the Paris attacks, the country’s foreign minister, Didier Reynders, has said.

We now know that among the dead are at least two Belgians, two Romanians and a Swedish citizen. The UK prime minister, David Cameron, has warned that British casualties are likely, without giving any further details.

Updated at 1.49pm GMT
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4h ago13:30
Mark Smith Mark Smith
The Queen and Prince Philip have tweeted their condolences to the French people, after what the British royals called “the terrible loss of life in Paris”.

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy)
November 14, 2015
The Queen – “Prince Philip and I have been deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible loss of life in #Paris” (1/2)

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy)
November 14, 2015
The Queen – “We send our most sincere condolences to you, the families of those who have died and the French people” (2/2)

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4h ago13:30
— Stacy Meichtry (@SMeichtry)
November 14, 2015
Scene outside #Bataclan after #ParisAttacks: Man pulled up with piano attached to bike, played Imagine and left. pic.twitter.com/p3ivcewHEK

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5h ago13:20
The Eiffel Tower will remain closed until further notice, Le Monde reports.

Last night, the lights on the Paris landmark went dark after news of the killings spread.

Museums, the Palace of Versailles and all of Paris’s public landmarks are closed. Two the capital’s most famous department stores, Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, have now closed, though they opened this morning.

Updated at 4.07pm GMT
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5h ago13:16
People queue to donate blood at the Saint Louis hospital in Paris on Saturday morning.
People queue to donate blood at the Saint Louis hospital in Paris on Saturday morning. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
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5h ago13:14
French interior minister authorises local authorities to impose curfews

Bernard Cazeneuve.
Bernard Cazeneuve.
France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has authorised local authorities to impose curfews if needed. In a televised address on Saturday, Cazeneuve said authorities are also banning all public demonstrations until Thursday.

The state of emergency will apply to the whole of France and will particularly restrict traffic flow in some areas. He said:

We are unanimous in our support for our security forces who are entirely committed, as was apparent from our police force’s courage last night, of the BRI and the GIGN as well as they freed the hostages from the terrorists’ barbarism at the Bataclan.

I pay tribute to the fire fighters and the all the emergency services who acted amid these acts of barbarism with bravery and selflessness.

Updated at 1.20pm GMT
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5h ago13:05
The French paper Libération also reports that last night’s raid by special forces on the Bataclan lasted two minutes, after it became apparent the attackers inside were killing hostages.

France’s counter-terrori unit Raid and special police force BRI led a coordinated attack on the building. The BRI found two terrorists who started firing their kalashnikovs at the police officers, injuring one.

Updated at 1.11pm GMT
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5h ago13:03
Peter Walker Peter Walker
Guardian reporter Peter Walker has been looking at the French authorities’ efforts to identify those killed in the attacks and why it has taken so long for the names of victims to be released.

The French newspaper Libération reports that the delay in naming victims from the Baclatan concert attack is in part because the bodies were not removed until Saturday morning, with the initial focus on taking the many injured people to hospital.

Additionally, a lot of those of those at the concert either lost wallets and identification amid the chaos, or had them in coats and bags in the cloakroom, the paper said.

A Paris municipality emergency line for concerned relatives and friends had been inundated with calls, it added.

Identification of the victims from the other attacks was still ongoing, the paper said.

Updated at 1.59pm GMT
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5h ago13:02
Mark Smith Mark Smith
Sky News producer Tom Boadle has tweeted this video of defiant French football fans singing the national anthem as they evacuated the Stade de France last night.

Updated at 4.16pm GMT
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5h ago12:59
Romania’s foreign ministry says two of its citizens died and a third was injured in the attacks in Paris, according to AP.

The news agency reports:

The ministry statement said the Romanian embassy was in contact with the families of the two Romanians. No details were available about where they died or who they were.

The ministry says the injured Romanian was treated at a hospital before being released.

Updated at 12.59pm GMT
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5h ago12:55
The Guardian’s Paris correspondent, Angelique Chrisafis, has been speaking to stunned Parisians this morning.

“It is a bizarre feeling of shock and surprise,” said Pascal Bourgeois, 40, an engineer who was out early to buy the local paper Le Parisien, whose front-page read: “This time it’s war.”

He had been watching France v Germanyon television when he heard the explosions outside the Stade de France live on air.

At the same time sirens began blaring near his home, not far from the other central Paris shootings. “I was just saying to a friend. We can’t stop living. We can’t not go outside. We have to carry on.”

You can read the full piece here.
Parisians take to bloodied streets in cautious defiance
Read more
Updated at 12.58pm GMT
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5h ago12:49
Police in Paris are trying to crack down on false rumours of further attacks that are doing the rounds on social media.

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice)
November 14, 2015
Ne diffusez et ne relayez pas de fausses informations ou de fausses rumeurs.

“Do not distribute or relay false information or false rumours,” is a translation of the tweet above from the Paris police department.

This is likely to be linked to social media rumours about shots being fired in Bagnolet in the eastern suburbs of Paris, which are false.

Le Parisian journalist Aurélie Lebelle says the shots reported were fireworks at a wedding.

— Aurélie Lebelle (@AurelieLebelle)
November 14, 2015
A Bagnolet fausse alerte: il s’agit de pétards dans le cadre d’un mariage (source préfecture et mairie)

Updated at 12.53pm GMT
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5h ago12:44
Dutch student Lieke, 17, has been studying in Paris since September 2014 and lives on the Rue de Charonne. She and her housemates were asked to throw down blankets and sheets to cover dead bodies, she told GuardianWitness.

We were inside getting ready to leave the house and we heard police outside. We went outside and we saw the police going in and out of the theatre. We thought it was a small fire but then we heard women screaming and then a woman ran out and she hugged a man.

The police started yelling for sheets and we ran back inside and found some. We still thought it was a fire and the sheets were for putting out the fire but then we found out they were to cover dead bodies.

Two people inside the restaurant are neighbours of ours, they live downstairs and after the attack happened they ran out onto the street.

They told me that they met a woman whose two friends had gone outside for a smoke during dinner and the gunmen opened fire. They were both killed. My neighbours stayed with us last night as they left their keys in the restaurant when they ran out.

This morning it’s very quiet. There are no cars outside. All the roads are still closed into Charonne except one small one and the police have to escort you there. You need to show them papers to prove you live here.

This latest terror attack makes me want to leave. When the Charlie Hebdo attacks happened earlier this year I was in school in the centre of Paris. I was also in Bangkok in August when the bomb near the shrine went off there. I’m not ready to go outside yet.

Updated at 12.50pm GMT
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5h ago12:38
Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body has issued a strong condemnation of the attacks in Paris.

“Terrorists are not sanctioned by Islam and these acts are contrary to values of mercy it brought to the world,” a statement by the Council of Senior Scholars said, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Updated at 12.41pm GMT
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5h ago12:37
Cameron says he has spoke to President Hollande, offering words of solidarity.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron)
November 14, 2015
I have spoken to Francois Hollande. I expressed our solidarity with France and said we will do whatever we can to help.

Updated at 12.40pm GMT
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5h ago12:34
Landmarks across the world have been illuminated in the colours of the French flag to show solidarity.

Red, white and blue are projected onto the Sydney Opera House, San Francisco’s city hall and the 101 building in Taipei, as this Guardian video shows.

Updated at 4.06pm GMT
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5h ago12:33
Shiv Malik Shiv Malik
The Guardian’s Shiv Malik has had a detailed look at the statement purportedly released by Islamic State:

The logo and design of the statements conform with Isis’s past formal statements from their central media office. The central office tends only to deal with releases about large attacks such as Tunisia early this year and this Shia mosque in May and other important military and administrative information.

Isis has also released an audio recording about the Paris attacks. In terms of substance, the six-minute clip is simply a reading of the written statement. The clip has been produced in the same format as previous recordings – they use the same battle song or nasheed at the start for example. It appears that Isis has even employed the same guy to do the reading as in the past.

Charlie Winter, a security analyst who has looked, listened, and watched thousands of pieces of Islamic State propaganda has little doubt that the statement is genuine.

He says that since late September Isis has migrated from Twitter to the encrypted app Telegram to distribute links to its releases. He saw this statement emanate earlier today from Isis accounts he had previously verified.

He says that the banner – “Islamic State France” – is also not unusual. When they don’t have an official Wilayat or governorate in the area concerned, Winter says the default is just to name the country concerned in the way the have and describe the perpetrators as “soldiers of the caliphate”. It does not mean that this statement is itself issued by a Isis branch in France.

Winter’s question is whether the attacks have been inspired or directed. The statements claiming responsibility in both French and Arabic contain no new information about the attacks and appear to have been “put together hastily,” Winter says, which he adds, is “not unusual either”.

The claims of responsibility over the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt a few weeks ago also gave away no new operational details. “The question we have to ask is whether it was directed from higher up in the ranks of [Isis] or whether it was eight supporters/members who were seeking to carry out an attack in its name as an expression of its support,” Winter says.

Updated at 12.36pm GMT
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5h ago12:30
The French government has released a video showing the French flag at half-mast over the Élysée Palace.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has just been speaking at a press conference:

What happened last night goes beyond anything we could have imagined, such is the horror. The targets are places we love, in this popular and open city of Paris which is happy to share the world’s culture because Paris is a city strengthened by its diversity.

It is this Paris which has been targeted because this model of togetherness is unbearable for fanatics, for those who want to reduce all humanity to silence.

The message that we want to give them, alongside other politicians, is that we will be stronger than those who would to reduce us to silence. We love to debate, we love to disagree, that’s democracy.

Updated at 4.06pm GMT
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5h ago12:27
A witness to the Bataclan attack has told BFMTV that one of the assailants was white and appeared to be European.
“I saw a guy who was pretty small, white and looked like a European,” he said. “He was just in front of the Bataclan and had a gun resting on his shoulder. Then I saw flashes and heard ‘Bam bam bam.’”

Updated at 12.30pm GMT
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5h ago12:27
UK threat level to remain at second-highest level, Cameron says

“The threat level is already at severe, and will remain so,” Cameron said. For it to be raised higher, to critical, security services must suspect a specific, imminent attack.

The attack shows Islamic State have a “new degree of planning and coordination, and a greater ambition for mass casualty attacks,” Cameron said.

He said he hoped to speak to President Hollande later today, and would say: “Your values are our values, your pain is our pain, your fight is our fight and together we will defeat these terrorists.”

Updated at 12.29pm GMT
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6h ago12:24
Cameron said those targeted were “innocent victims, enjoying a night out with friends and families, no doubt after long week … killed and injured by brutal, callous murderers, who want to destroy what our two countries stand for.”

Prime minister David Cameron speaks in the state dining room of 10 Downing Street after chairing an emergency Cobra meeting.
Prime minister David Cameron speaks in the state dining room of 10 Downing Street after chairing an emergency Cobra meeting. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Updated at 12.59pm GMT
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6h ago12:23
We must be prepared for British casualties, says Cameron

The UK prime minister, David Cameron, has been speaking to the media after chairing a meeting of the security committee Cobra.

He called Friday night’s killings “a horrifying and sickening attack” and said his thoughts were with the French people and all those who had lost loved ones.

“To the French people, my message is simple. Nous sommes solidaires avec vous. Nous sommes tous ensemble. We are with you, we are united,” he said.

Cameron said the UK should be “prepared for a number of British casualties”.

Updated at 1.02pm GMT
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6h ago12:15
Syrian passport ‘found on body of attacker’

Two French police officials say a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers at the Stade de France, where a friendly match was being played between France and Germany, according to Associated Press and French television.

Updated at 12.22pm GMT
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6h ago12:06
German media are reporting that a man was arrested in Bavaria last week with machine guns and explosives, claiming it was linked to the attack in Paris, although there is no police confirmation of this.

This is the report from AFP:

A man arrested in southern Germany last week, who had weapons including machine guns and explosives in his car, was “likely linked to attackers in Paris”, German media reported on Saturday.

Police in the southern region of Bavaria confirmed the arrest on 5 November during a routine check on a motorway, saying “many machine guns, revolvers and explosives” were found in the vehicle of the suspect.

However, the police spokesman would not confirm the link with Friday’s attacks in Paris that left more than 120 people dead. “I cannot tell you what he was planning to do with the weapons,” he added.

Focus Online reported that the man was from Montenegro and that he has refused to speak in prison and not hired a lawyer to defend his case.

Updated at 12.08pm GMT
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6h ago12:03
Jason Burke Jason Burke
Jason Burke, the Guardian’s expert on Islamic State militancy, says he believes the claim of responsibility to be credible.

The claim from the Islamic State appears genuine. According to SITE, a well-known and reliable private US-based firm specialised in tracking terrorist statements, it was preceded by a flurry of anti-French media messaging from known accounts and users linked to Isis.

The statement itself gives no details that might confirm its authenticity, but overall it seems convincing. It is written in the standard, sententious style of Isis and other militant pronouncements and is framed by a worldview that has become wearily familiar over recent years.

Paris is the “capital of prostitution and obscenity, the carrier of the banner of the Cross in Europe” while its attackers were “a faithful group of the soldiers of the caliphate”.

The statement is thick with the group’s twisted view of history – the Crusades, politics – the French intervention in Syria and a puritanical disgust for western civilisation. A concert on a Friday night is thus “a profligate prostitution party”.

There is no mention of last week’s killing of Mohammed Emwazithe British-born Isis executioner known as Jihadi John, which would indicate that the idea that the Paris attacks were retaliation is misplaced.

There are also no demands, as such, just a tirade and threat of more violence: “This attack is the first of the storm and a warning to those who wish to learn.”

The group will now be keen to follow through on those threats. One thing that is lacking is any call for local Muslims within France or Europe to launch attacks themselves. That previous strategy appears to have been abandoned.

Updated at 12.12pm GMT
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6h ago12:01
Lunchtime summary – what we know so far

A woman forms a question mark using candles in front of the French embassy in Prague.
A woman forms a question mark using candles in front of the French embassy in Prague. Photograph: Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images
Islamic State has released a statement claiming responsibility for Friday night’s and has threatened further attacks against France.
The group says the killings were in response to airstrikes against its militants in Syria, adding France would remain a “key target”.
President François Hollande also said Isis was to blame for the terror attacks across Paris that killed at least 127 dead.
Hollande says the attacks were an “act of war … prepared and planned elsewhere, with outside involvement which this investigation will seek to establish”. He adds that France will be “ruthless in its response” and declares three days of national mourning.
The state of emergency declared across France on Friday night remains in place on Saturday. The measure means that most public spaces can be shut down and there is heightened police and military presence across the country. The French police stress that no public demonstrations are to be held in Paris.
David Cameron is to chair an emergency Cobra meeting of government ministers and security officials to discuss the British response. A senior Met police officer suggested that the UK may increase its terror threat level to the highest possible.
The French government also convened an emergency meeting on Saturday morning to formulate its response to the attack. An international investigation is launched overnight and officials have said “accomplices” are still at large.
The death toll stands at 127, while about 200 are believed to have been wounded, 99 seriously.
Earlier on Saturday, the death toll at each location was reported as: 87 at the Bataclan theatre; 18 at Boulevard de Charonne; one at Boulevard Voltaire; five at Rue de la Fontaine au Roi; and 14 at Rue Alibert. More deaths have been reported on Saturday morning but it is unclear where they occurred. At the Stade de France, the Paris prosecutor François Molins, says “some” people were killed, possibly three. However, it is not clear whether they are attackers or victims.
Eight assailants have been killed, seven of them in suicide bombings, a French prosecutor said. But police are still hunting accomplices. Witnesses to one shooting said police told them at least one attacker was still at large.
World leaders have voiced outrage, with many pledging to help France with the ongoing investigation. Barack Obama says America stood shoulder-to-shoulder with France. The Vatican has also condemned the attack as “mad terrorist violence”.
Bullet holes in the windows of the Carillon and the adjacent Cambodian restaurant on Rue Alibert.
Bullet holes in the windows of the Carillon and the adjacent Cambodian restaurant on Rue Alibert. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 12.24pm GMT
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6h ago11:52
Islamic State’s official statement claiming responsibility for the attacks seems to have a key mistake: it mentions attacks in the 10th, 11th and the 18th district.

There was no attack in the 18th district. The Stade de France is in the area of Saint-Denis. It is possible the group has mixed these places up, although it does mention that attack earlier in the sentence.

Updated at 11.54am GMT
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6h ago11:47
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has spoken of the close bond between the UK capital and Paris, which he called London’s “sister city”.

I have written this morning to Mayor Hidalgo to convey the sense of shock and grief of millions of Londoners at the tragic events in Paris. Our thoughts today are with the victims and their families and with the whole French people.

We regard Paris as our sister city, a place for which we have deep reserves of love and admiration and respect. We are two capitals united in our values – democratic freedom, openness and tolerance.

The people who launched the attacks last night have no such values. They wish to undermine the things we hold most precious. They want to set neighbour against neighbour. They want to spread fear.

They will not succeed. As president Hollande has rightly said, they must and will be defeated. We stand ready in London to do everything in our power – to do whatever it takes – to assist in a struggle that embraces us all.

— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam)
November 14, 2015
Union Jack lowered to half mast at 10 Downing Street in solidarity with France for victims of Paris terror attacks pic.twitter.com/UIdnfo98RS

Updated at 11.53am GMT
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6h ago11:44
Vanessa Thorpe Vanessa Thorpe
As the horror of the terror attacks emerged on Friday night, residents of eastern Paris used social media not just to hear news and express emotion, but to offer help.

The hashtag #PorteOuverte, or “open door”, was quickly up and running, with residents in the affected areas offering shelter to anyone who had been cleared from the streets and had nowhere to wait.

Some just posted their addresses, while others asked Twitter users to contact them:

— Thomas Nigro (@ThomasNigro)
November 13, 2015
Hey tourists in #Paris if you need help or some place to sleep around Jussieu 5th arrondissement, my door is open. #PorteOuverte #OpenDoor

— Florian Duretz (@duretzflo)
November 13, 2015
#porteouverte send me a message for a safe place in canal Saint Martin. Please be safe

Another urged concerned Parisians to be practical as news unfolded:

— Anaid Rojas (@Anaid_RC)
November 14, 2015
Tweet safe places, not your thoughts on the matter. A shelter will help, prayers later. #PorteOuverte pic.twitter.com/ZQFY9FxPyY

The adhoc system seemed to work: “My friends are safe, in a random woman’s home. She’s making them dinner, & preparing beds. Blessed. #PorteOuverte”, posted one relieved woman.

Soon the hashtag was trending globally alongside #PriezPourParis, #Solidarite and simply the word #Paris.

Facebook was soon offering some comfort by marking all friends in Paris locations “safe” as they checked into their pages.

— Casey McCormick (@virtualcasey)
November 14, 2015
Glad to know my friends are safe; thank you, social media. All my love to Paris. #solidarite pic.twitter.com/hpZ164OnNf

Twitter was also being scanned by those watching for extremist reaction or clues to the perpetrators.

On Friday night, Aymenn J al-Tamimi ‏(@ajaltamimi) noted:

— Aymenn J Al-Tamimi (@ajaltamimi)
November 14, 2015
That’s a new one…al-Nusra al-Maqdisia referring to the Eiffel Tower as the ‘Tower of Satan’: #Parisattacks pic.twitter.com/Lq8kPQOAKm

On Saturday morning Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign Twitter account posted a picture of an illuminated Eiffel Tower next to the words of Martin Luther King:

— JeremyCorbyn4PM (@JeremyCorbyn4PM)
November 14, 2015
Absolute #solidarité with the people of Paris. Thoughts r with families who will be suffering so badly this morning. pic.twitter.com/dXQc86I3Z9

Others on Twitter were calling on fellow users to pay tribute to the lost lives.

— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam)
November 14, 2015
Do something those poor, poor kids would have been doing this morning. #paris #solidarite

The British broadcaster Rufus Hound responded this morning with a call for a peaceful response.

— Rufus Hound (@RufusHound)
November 14, 2015
We can’t fight hate with hate. However hard, to defeat these monsters, we must love one another. #solidarité #humanité #fraternité

Updated at 11.52am GMT
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6h ago11:32
This morning in Paris, locals put up a homemade poster saying “I am human” at the base of the Marianne statue, the symbol of the French republic, in Place de la République.

“We aren’t activists, just Parisians,” they told the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison.

Parisians put up homemade poster near site of attacks
Parisians put up homemade poster near site of attacks Photograph: Emma Graham Harrison for the Guardian
‘We aren’t activists, just Parisians’
‘We aren’t activists, just Parisians’ Photograph: Emma Graham Harrison for the Guardian
Updated at 11.46am GMT
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6h ago11:26
The Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, has urged his citizens to avoid going to Paris unless “strictly necessary”. He added that security will be stepped up at public events in Belgium.

— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel)
November 14, 2015
Nous demandons aux concitoyens d’éviter d’aller à Paris si ce n’est pas indispensable. Les contrôles seront renforcés ds événements publics

Updated at 11.30am GMT
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7h ago11:14
Charlie Winter, senior researcher at the Quilliam Foundation, points out that the statement does not give conclusive proof the attacks were co-ordinated by Islamic State, or just inspired by the group’s exhortations to followers.

— Charlie Winter (@charliewinter)
November 14, 2015
No new information and no names in #IS claim, so difficult to know if *inspired* or *directed*.

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7h ago11:11
Islamic State says the attack on France is “the start of a storm” and the country is its key target:

…having dared insult our prophet, having bragged about fighting Islam in France and striking Muslims in the Caliphate with their planes, which have not helped them in any way in the ill-smelling streets of Paris.

This attack is just the start of a storm and a warning for those who wish to draw lessons.

Updated at 11.37am GMT
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7h ago11:09
The statement from Islamic State goes on to call the attacks a response to insults directed at the prophet Muhammad, as well as airstrikes by France on Islamic State-held territory.

Updated at 11.16am GMT
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7h ago11:07
In the statement, released in French, Islamic State said “soldiers of Caliphate” had targeted “the capital of abomination and perversion”.

It continues:

Eight brothers carrying explosive belts and guns targeted areas in the heart of the French capital that were specifically chosen in advance: the Stade de France during a match against Germany which that imbecile François Hollande was attending; the Bataclan where hundreds of idolaters were together in a party of perversity as well as other targets in the 10th, 11th and 18th arrondissement

France and those who follow its path must know that they remain the principal targets of the Islamic State.

Updated at 11.24am GMT
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7h ago10:57
Islamic State claims responsibility for Paris attacks

In an official statement, the group said France was its “top target”. It says it carefully studied the locations for the attacks, which were carried out by fighters wearing suicide belts and carrying machine guns.

Here’s the statement in French; we’ll have a full version in English up shortly.

— Gilles N. (@VegetaMoustache)
November 14, 2015
l’#EI revendique les attaques de Paris pic.twitter.com/Dmcyno2b4A

Updated at 11.12am GMT
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7h ago10:55
Gatwick airport’s north terminal has been evacuated. Sussex police said the evacuation was a precaution because of a suspect package.

— Connor Gillies (@ConnorGillies)
November 14, 2015
BREAKING: #Gatwick #airport evacuated. Emergency services on high alert. Heightened security after #ParisAttacks. pic.twitter.com/q3SGpuh9JC

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet)
November 14, 2015
ALERT North terminal at London Gatwick evacuated https://t.co/GlAdQUVvNe pic.twitter.com/O9TgkZXcJF

— Tim Unwin (@TimUnwin)
November 14, 2015
#gatwick_airport North Terminal evacuation in the rain pic.twitter.com/8aeeP8VWJF

Updated at 11.11am GMT
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7h ago10:50
These are the full remarks from President Hollande, when he addressed the nation earlier from the Élysée Palace.

What happened yesterday in Paris and in Saint Denis is an act of war and this country needs to make the right decisions to fight this war. This act committed by the terrorist army, Islamic State, is against who we are, against a free country that speaks to the whole world.

It is an act of war prepared and planned outside, with outside involvement which this investigation will seek to establish. It is an act of absolute barbarism. France will be ruthless in its response to Islamic State.

At this painful and serious time, which is such a decisive one for our country, I call for unity, for a collective spirit and for cool heads. I will address Parliament at Versailles on Monday.

France is strong, and even if she is wounded, she will rise once again. Even if we are in grief, nothing will destroy her.

France is strong, valiant and will defeat this barbarism. History reminds us of this and the strength we today bear to come together convinces us of this.

My compatriots, what we defend is our homeland and much more than that, it is our own values of humanity and France will bear its responsibilities.

President Hollande delivers an address at the Élyséee Palace.
President Hollande delivers an address at the Élyséee Palace. Photograph: Reuters
Updated at 11.02am GMT
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7h ago10:42
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, has been speaking to the media.

We need to understand how such attacks are possible and grasp the consequences. Our foreign policy must reflect the fact that we are at war. Our internal security policy as well. We need be able to adapt to ensure the security of France.

Sarkozy said his party would support the “drastic strengthening of security measures to protect the lives of our compatriots”.

Our nation must be united. Our history is full of hardship, we always knew how to overcome it, we will overcome this one with composure, determination and strength.

Updated at 10.46am GMT
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7h ago10:29
French police have tweeted that there is a ban on public demonstrations in the postcode areas 92, 93, 94 in Île-de-France. They are the districts surrounding Paris – Seine Saint-Denis, Hauts de Seine and Val de Marne.

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice)
November 14, 2015
Arrêté portant interdiction des manifestations sur la voie publique à Paris et dans les départements 92 93, 94. https://t.co/e4jSCgHtCb

Demonstrations are also banned in central Paris until Thursday.

Updated at 10.35am GMT
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8h ago10:17
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is the latest to condemn Friday’s attacks in Paris.

He told Lebanese TV station al Mayadeen:

What France suffered from savage terror is what the Syrian people have been enduring for over five years.

Updated at 10.37am GMT
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8h ago10:05
A junior doctor has tweeted what appears to be a request for other medical staff to offer assistance in a number of hospitals around Paris.

“Present yourself to your nearest hospital and help in any way you can. If you are not needed at your local hospital, the following hospitals are in need of help: Bichat, Pitié Salpêtrière, HEGP, Lariboisière.”

— Habib_Potter (@Dr_Turfu)
November 14, 2015
Vous êtes internes des hôpitaux de Paris ? Des besoins accrus à la Pitié Salpêtrière, Bichat, HEGP, Lariboisière. pic.twitter.com/c1o5PiFnuj

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8h ago10:01
Hollande blames attack on Islamic State

The French president has made an impassioned statement after the emergency security meeting this morning, where he blamed the attack on Islamic State.

Hollande said 127 people were killed in the attacks, which he described as an “act of war”. He said the attacks were coordinated, planned and organised from abroad with assistance from inside France.

“I pay homage to the country’s defenders who fought the terrorists yesterday,” he said. “Everyone has given their utmost and will be putting in their best efforts in the day to come.”

He called the attack “cowardly’ and said every measure would be taken to fight “the terrorist menace.”

“In this most serious and uncertain time, I call for unity and courage,” he said, adding that he would address the French parliament on Monday.

“Even if France is wounded, she will rise,” he said.

The country will observe three days of mourning.

A woman lays a tribute to victims of the attacks at the Carillon restaurant in Paris.
A woman lays a tribute to victims of the attacks at the Carillon restaurant in Paris. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 11.18am GMT
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8h ago09:54
There are queues at French hospitals of people donating blood, according to French journalist Grégory Dominé. He said medical officials have asked for people to space out donations, over the weekend and throughout next week.

— Grégory Dominé (@mokkacuka)
November 14, 2015
#Paris: people queue in hospitals to donate blood pic.twitter.com/4fyELppHSQ

Bernard Jomier, the deputy mayor of Paris who has the health brief, said there is no need for anyone to go to hospital to donate blood today and no more people should go to hospital.

— Bernard Jomier (@BernardJomier)
November 14, 2015
Pas de besoin en sang. Merci de ne pas vous rendre dans les hôpitaux.

Updated at 10.07am GMT
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8h ago09:44
French journalist Agnes Poirier has compiled this timeline from French police, which emphasises just how close to each other the attacks were.

— Agnes Poirier (@AgnesCPoirier)
November 14, 2015
The timeline of yesterday’s seven attacks in #Paris according to police source of @leJDD pic.twitter.com/mosZbJqjDL

Updated at 11.03am GMT
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8h ago09:42
Islamic State releases undated video of militant threatening France

The Islamic State group has released a undated video where a militant is heard saying France “will not live in peace as long as bombing continues”.

Crucially, we do not know when the video was recorded, it does not mention specifics, and we’re treating claims of responsibility, made early this morning, with extreme caution.

The video was released through the group’s propaganda arm, the Al-Hayat Media Centre. It shows a bearded fighter, speaking in Arabic, calling on on French Muslims to carry out attacks in France if they are unable to travel to Syria themselves.

“As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear traveling to the market,” he says, according to a Reuters translation.

Updated at 10.18am GMT
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8h ago09:36
We sill do not know the identities or nationalities of the attackers involved in the Friday night attacks, though authorities say eight died, seven of them detonating suicide bombs and the final perpetrator shot by police.

Prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre has told AP police have not ruled out the possibility that accomplices may still be at large and that is the focus of the investigation now.

Britain is hold its own emergency meeting of the COBRA intelligence committee, called by prime minster David Cameron.

Updated at 9.38am GMT
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8h ago09:27
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has been speaking to reporters in Vienna ahead of the Syria peace talks.

“One of the objectives of the Vienna meeting is to see concretely how we can strengthen the international fight against Daesh,” Fabius said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

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8h ago09:26
Paris residents wanting to donate blood can find locations on the Don du Sang Paris app, according to a tweet from the organisation.

— Don du Sang Paris (@DonSangParis)
November 14, 2015
@Bobbyfrasier Sur notre appli Android la carte des collectes proches de Meudon voir aussi https://t.co/eCn03Q2xdm pic.twitter.com/fKxYIbU2XH

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9h ago09:22
A man who escaped serious injury during an explosion during a series of terror attacks across Paris explains in this video how his mobile phone saved him from being hit in the head by flying shrapnel.

The man was just hanging up his now shattered phone outside of the Stade de France when the bomb went off but was hit by shrapnel in both the abdomen and foot.

Updated at 4.04pm GMT
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9h ago09:19
Emma Graham-Harrison
The Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison has arrived in Paris and has an update on the travel situation.

The metro is running normally from the Gare du Nord but 11 stations are closed around the Bataclan theatre, the area where most of the attacks took place, a security guard at the station said.

The commuter RER lines were running but with bad delays on some lines.

The Guardian’s journalists currently in Paris are Angelique Chrisafis, Luke Harding, Kim Willsher, Jon Henley and Emma Graham-Harrison. The Observer’s reporter in Paris is Tracy McVeigh.

Updated at 10.15am GMT
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9h ago09:16
Kevin Rawlinson
According to the French newspaper Libération, the archbishop of Paris has called for “restraint” in the wake of the “barbarism” of Friday night’s attacks.

Libé reports that cardinal André Vingt-Trois is to give a mass at Notre Dame.

He said: “Our city of Paris – and our country – were hit last night with particular savagery and intensity.” He added that the restraint, temperance and the self control that France has shown thus far will be borne out in the coming weeks, so that no one will descend into hatred or panic.

Updated at 9.23am GMT
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9h ago09:14
Tracy McVeigh Tracy McVeigh
The Guardian’s Tracy McVeigh has been at Eurostar’s London terminal before travelling to Paris, speaking to staff and passengers.

Eurostar said they have “many” cancellations this morning on their train’s between London and Paris.

They have been offering exchanges to people unwilling to travel to the French capital in wake of the attacks.

Michael McDonald, an electrician from west London was at London St Pancras station changing in his ticket.

“My wife and I were going for her birthday but she won’t go now,” he said. “One more place people are too scared to go to in the world, it’s a terrible thing.”

Updated at 10.14am GMT
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9h ago09:12
Disneyland Paris, one of Europe’s leading tourist attractions, has closed today in a highly unusual move.

The theme park said in a statement that it decided not to open Saturday “in light of the recent tragic events in France and in support of our community and the victims of these horrendous attacks.”

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9h ago09:09
French soldiers are patrolling Paris streets this morning, as well as a heavy police presence outside the sites of the attacks.

French soldiers patrol in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris
French soldiers patrol in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
A policeman stands near an abandoned shoe that was left in the street near the Bataclan concert hall the morning after a series of deadly attacks in Paris.
A policeman stands near an abandoned shoe that was left in the street near the Bataclan concert hall the morning after a series of deadly attacks in Paris. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters
Police patrol outside of a Quick fastfood restaurant next to the Stade de France stadium, outside of Paris.
Police patrol outside of a Quick fastfood restaurant next to the Stade de France stadium, outside of Paris. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
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9h ago09:03
Shiv Malik Shiv Malik
The Guardian’s Shiv Malik has been looking at which group is likely to be behind the well co-ordinated attack.

We are still not clear as to whether this was ISIS, Al Qaeda or possibly (but on balance unlikely) – a third party.

If this is Al Qaeda, we should note that given that they, not ISIS, were responsible for the singular attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine’s offices, their reach and resource in France is frighteningly very wide.

Again if it is Al Qaeda, we have to note that they are fighting an internecine war with ISIS.

Attacks like these are how Al Qaeda capture funding from and remain relevant to their, somewhat dwindling, supporters around the world. Attacks like these also achieve one of their main aims of dividing Western Muslim communities from the rest of Western society.

One fear is that a so called lone wolf actor with ISIS allegiance might try to ‘jump on the bandwagon’ like Amedy Coulibaly during January’s terrorist attacks in Paris

If this is ISIS then this is a very worrying escalation in their capability in the West. This will have been the first time they have executed a large scale an extremely well planned attack in Europe. As analyst Shiraz Maher noted, this is the first time that since 7/7, ten years ago that suicide bombers have struck in Western Europe.

— Shiraz Maher (@ShirazMaher)
November 14, 2015
Tonight’s suicide attacks in France are the first such attacks conducted in Europe since the 2005 attacks in london.

Given past behaviour, and if it is them, they will in all likely claim responsibility via social media within a few days at most.

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9h ago08:57
French prosecutors put death toll at 128, with 99 critically injured

Reuters reports that French prosecutors have a provisional death toll of 128 people from the combined attacks, with 99 people in hospital in critical conditions.

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9h ago08:49
World leaders, including many arriving in Vienna for Syria peace talks, have expressed horror at the attacks in Paris, including Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, who called the attacks “heinous”.

“I wanted to express our condolences to the government and people of France for the heinous terrorist attacks that took place yesterday which are in violation and contravention of all ethics, morals and religions,” Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in the Austrian capital.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long called for more intensified international efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and shapes.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was inevitable the talks would be affected. “Those events which happened not far from here will absolutely cause adjustments in the agenda of today’s event,” she told reporters.

Speaking from Moscow, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia “shares the sadness and the pain of the French people,” he said. “Terrorist crimes are not and cannot be justified. The Paris tragedy requires of us all to unite in the fight against extremism, to bring a strong answer to terrorists’ actions.”

The Philippines has pledged “higher security” for world leaders meeting at an economic summit in Manila next week, where US President Barack Obama is set to join the leaders of China, Japan, Australia, Canada and 15 others at an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

“There is no credible threat registered at this time, but let us all be cooperative and vigilant,” President Benigno Aquino said in a statement.

Across the world, landmarks have been lit red, white and blue, including New York’s World Trade Centre and the Sydney opera house.

— Love Belfast ❤️ (@love_belfast)
November 14, 2015
The world is lighting up blue, white and red tonight, as we all continue to #PrayForParis pic.twitter.com/1eo0QCuhCO

In Sydney, New South Wales state Premier Mike Baird said he had also asked for a French flag to fly over the city’s famous harbour bridge.

“Turns out, there isn’t one in the country that is big enough,” he wrote on Facebook. “So, if we can’t source one, we are going to make one.”

“We mourn with you, and we stand with you, Paris,” he said.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had earlier said that protecting freedom was a global battle after the attacks left more than 120 people dead. He said it was a battle against those who seek to suppress freedom and seek to assert “some form of religious tyranny; a threat in the name of God but is truthfully the work of the devil”.

“In France and Australia, all around the world, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of France and with all free peoples in the battle against terrorism,” Turnbull said in a statement.

In Canada last night, members of the French-speaking community in Montreal gathered late Friday in a spontaneous show of support.

About 500 people assembled under a light rain to honour the victims of the deadly Paris assaults, carrying signs that read “We will not retreat,” and “We will defend our values.”

The crowd sang the Le Marseillaise and observed a moment of silence.

Back in Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged support from Germany to hunt down the perpetrators of the Paris attacks.

“The people in Paris are enduring a nightmare of violence, terror and fear,” Merkel said in Berlin this morning. “We, the German friends, we are feeling with them. We are crying with them.”

“This attack on freedom is not only aimed against Paris. It’s aimed against us all,” Merkel said, adding that Europe would stand united to defend its values. We know that our free life is stronger than terror.”

Updated at 8.53am GMT
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9h ago08:25
Le Monde journalist Daniel Psenny, whose apartment overlooks the emergency exit of the Bataclan has posted an extraordinary video, of people clambering out of windows to escape from the theatre – a scene he said reminded him of 9/11.

The video is graphic and includes images of what appear to be dead bodies.

Psenny himself was shot in the arm as he attempted to help people shelter in his apartment, and is being treated at the Georges-Pompidou hospital.

Here’s a translation of his piece from Le Monde.

I was trying to do some work at home. The TV was on, playing a cop film starring Jean-Hugues Anglade. I heard a noise which sounded like firecrackers and initially I was convinced that it was in the film. But the noise was so loud, I went to the window. I live on the second floor and my apartment overlooks the emergency exit of the Bataclan.

Sometimes there are evacuations [in the past], but everyone was running out from all directions. I saw people on the floor, and blood… I understood then that it was something serious. I asked passersby what was happening. Everyone was running toward the Rue Amelot or the boulevard Voltaire.

A woman was clinging to the window of the Bataclan, on the second floor. I thought of those images from September 11.

So, I told myself I was going to open up to people, so they could come and take refuge. Therefore, I opened the door to my apartment. There was a man lying on the pavement and an another man whom I did not see again, he was shot as he was trying to take shelter in the lobby.

That’s the moment I took a bullet. I don’t remember much after that, I have a blank, but I remember feeling like a firecracker had exploded in my left arm and I saw that it was pissing blood. I think the shooter was at the window of the Bataclan. I went up to some neighbours on the fourth floor.

The guy we did get in [to the apartment] was shot in the leg. He was an American. He vomited, he was cold and we thought he was going to die. We called the emergency services but they couldn’t get us out. I called a friend who is a doctor and she explained how to make a tourniquet with my shirt. We were stuck in the apartment until the police raid occurred and they came to find us.

Updated at 8.52am GMT
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10h ago07:57
Police have reopened the perimeter around one of the attack sites, around Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, in the 10th arrondissement, according to journalists at the scene.

— Salomé Legrand (@Salome_L)
November 14, 2015
Le périmètre vient juste de rouvrir au Carillon en face du #PetitCambodge pic.twitter.com/tVkWCabfJv

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10h ago07:51
Jon Henley Jon Henley
The Guardian’s Jon Henley is on the Eurostar to Paris this morning.

Sitting in a nearly deserted Eurostar departure lounge, Bob Gale, from Niagara Falls in Canada, said he and his wife – travelling with two friends to join a cruise along the river Seine starting on Sunday – said the group had not considered for one moment changing their plans.

“That’s the way the world is now,” he said. “And I’ve always felt that if you don’t go in circumstances like this you’re bowing down to the terrorists. The odds are on our side, you’d have to say.”

Paul and Ann Harrop had travelled down from Hull on Friday night and were on their way for a week’s visit to their daughter, who is spending a year studying in Toulouse in southwest France.

“Of course we’re worried,” said Ann. “We were very worried last night. But our daughter would be upset if we called it off, and we want to be with her.”

Paul said there was likely to be “more security, and fewer people travelling. So it might actually be almost safer to travel now.”

Gwenaelle Courtin was accompanying a group of 22 pupils back to their school in La Loupe, near Chartres south of Paris.

“We have to get them home,” she said. Certainly, yes, we felt safer here in London than we would have felt in France last night. It’s terrible; monstrous. But the children need to get back to their parents and we are only passing through Paris. I think it will be all right.”

Updated at 8.17am GMT
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10h ago07:39
Latest death toll

Claire Phipps Claire Phipps
We still do not have precise figures for the numbers killed and wounded, as Paris authorities deal with the aftermath of what one official has described as “carnage”.

Latest information says that at least 120 people are believed to have been killed in six separate attacks across the city.

Two hundred people are injured, 80 seriously.

At the Bataclan concert venue, 87 people have been reported dead.

At the Stade de France, the Paris prosecutor François Molins said “some” were killed, possibly three. (It is not clear whether this include the attackers thought to have died here.)

At the shootings at the Rue de Charonne, 18 are dead.

At Boulevard Voltaire, one person is dead.

At Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, five are dead.

At Rue Alibert, 14 are dead and “many seriously injured”.

The eight attackers are also dead, seven of them after detonating suicide belts.

Police say they continue to hunt for any possible accomplices to the attacks. No one has yet claimed responsibility.

I am now handing over this live blog to my colleague Jessica Elgot in London, who will continue with the latest coverage from this unfolding story. Our latest articles are here, along with a gallery of images from a tragic Friday night:
Paris attacks: shootings and explosions across French capital – in pictures
View gallery
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10h ago07:28
The Vatican has condemned the killings in Paris as “mad terrorist violence” and called for a decisive response to counter the spread of “homicidal hatred”.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement:

We condemn [it] in the most radical way together with the pope and all those who love peace.

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11h ago07:24
Luke Harding Luke Harding
My colleague Luke Harding is on his way to Paris and reports that France’s borders “remain very much open”:

The Eurostar terminal was virtually deserted this morning, with few early morning passengers. There were police visible at the departure gate but not an obviously increased presence, with UK and French passport control checks as normal.

The service was functioning normally, with the scheduled 6.18am departure leaving on time, and due to arrive in Paris Gare du Nord – not far from where the multiple shootings took place – at 9.47am local time.

Most of those on board were journalists. The conductor assured one spooked English passenger that French regional train services out of Paris were running normally.

France’s borders appear very much open this morning, despite last night’s carnage.

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11h ago07:16
My colleague Caroline Bannock has spoken to Sumedh, who was with friends at the Stade de France. Here is his eyewitness account:

I went to watch the game. In the middle of first half, there was an explosion. I thought that’s unusual, but then the second explosion happened and our seats were shaking – then I realised something bigger may be happening.

But still we didn’t do anything. I was with a bunch of friends and none of us were looking at our cell phones. Then towards the end of the match our friends started phoning.

The match went on to the 90th minute. By then you had the sense that everyone had the information about what was going on. Everyone was silent. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife. It was horrible.

Some people started to leave but we thought it was safer to stay inside the stadium to begin with.

But then we decided to leave. Outside there were no police at all. Just people panicking. There were rumours there was a shooter, people were running in all directions. This girl fell over in front of me.

Spectators gather on the pitch of the Stade de France stadium following the match between France and Germany, after hearing news of the attacks.
Spectators gather on the pitch of the Stade de France stadium following the match between France and Germany, after hearing news of the attacks. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
A few hundred of us ran back inside the stadium. We waited for a while then left again.

When we got to the main street, there were lots of paramilitary police; it was really well managed then. We went to the Gare de Saint-Denis to take the train back to my home on the Rue de Charonne.

Then I got a call from my girlfriend, she’d been trying to reach me for ages. She told me not to go home – there were shootings in the Rue de Charonne. It was horrific.

So I went back to the east of Paris with my friend. I’m OK now but it’s so awful what’s happening near my home. It’s completely shocking. I’m shaking.

Share your eyewitness accounts with GuardianWitness. You can share your eyewitness accounts, photos and videos or news tips by clicking on the blue button at the top of the blog.

Spectators on the pitch as news circulates of the attack outside the stadium.
Spectators on the pitch as news circulates of the attack outside the stadium. Photograph: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Updated at 7.27am GMT
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11h ago06:58
What we know so far

Claire Phipps Claire Phipps
At least 120 people are feared to have been killed in a series of devastating attacks across Paris.
Eight attackers also died, police say, seven of them by detonating explosive suicide belts.
Police continue to search for accomplices who might still be at large.
Two hundred people were injured, 80 of them seriously.
Shootings and explosions were reported in six locations across the city, including the Stade de France in northern Paris, where two suicide attacks and a bombing took place as the national team played Germany in a friendly football match.
The majority of victims died after a mass shooting inside the Bataclan concert venue.
Shootings also took place in restaurants and other sites in the centre of the city, detailed here.
President François Hollande, who was at the Stade de France at the time of the assaults, said:
We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow.

A state of emergency has been declared across France and security at the country’s borders has been tightened.
Paris residents have been told to stay in their homes and authorities say “all of the city’s amenities”, including schools, universities, museums, libraries, gyms, swimming pools and markets, will close on Saturday.
US president Barack Obama described the atrocities as “an attack on all of humanity”. Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the attack “appears to have all the hallmarks of a Daesh [Islamic State] exercise”.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has cancelled his official visit to France, due to take place next week, in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Updated at 4.14pm GMT
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11h ago06:49
Where the attacks took place

The attacks were launched in six separate locations across the city – five in the 10th and 11th arrondissements, and one close to the Stade de France, in the north of the city, where president François Hollande was attending a football match between the French and German teams.

Here is what we know about the places where the shootings and explosions took place.

Le Bataclan concert venue
The club is on Boulevard Voltaire, a lively neighbourhood at the intersection of the 10th, 11th and third arrondissements.

One of the best-known music venues in Paris, the Bataclan was hosting California-based band Eagles of Death Metal on Friday night. Band members are reported safe, although the whereabouts of their entourage are unconfirmed.

This was the site where most of the victims – many of them young – were killed.

The attackers first sprayed cafes outside the concert hall with machine gunfire, then went inside and opened fire on the panicked audience, according to the Paris police chief.

As police closed in, three of them detonated suicide vests, killing themselves and setting off explosions.
Map showing the locations of terror attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015.
Stade de France
Two suicide attacks and a bombing were carried out simultaneously near the national stadium.

The attacks occurred near two of the stadium entrances and at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to Gregory Goupil of the Alliance Police Nationale, whose region includes the area around the stadium. He said at least three people died in the attacks.

Spectators were evacuated from the 80,000-seat venue, many of them singing the Marseillaise as they did so.

La Belle Equipe
The sidewalk terrace of the cafe on Rue de Charonne was showered in gunfire, killing as many as 18 people, according to the Paris prosecutor.

Emergency workers covered bodies splayed on the pavement.

Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge
Le Carillon, a bar-cafe, and the nearby Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge were apparently both targeted with gunfire, killing around 14 people and leaving several gravely injured, according to the prosecutor.

They are at the junction of Rue Bichat and Rue Alibert.

Witnesses described sounds like fireworks, before they realised the gravity of the situation and tried to find a place to hide, or flee.

Medics evacuate an injured person close to Le Bataclan.
Medics evacuate an injured person close to Le Bataclan. Photograph: Thierry Orban/Getty Images
Updated at 7.19am GMT
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11h ago06:37
Eyewitness: ‘He swivelled right, swivelled left and opened fire’

Psychotherapist Mark Colclough, a 43-year-old British-Danish dual citizen, was with a colleague on Rue de la Fontaine when he witnessed a gunman attack a cafe.

He told the Guardian what he saw:

He was standing in a shooting position. He had his right leg forward and he was standing with his left leg back. He was holding up to his left shoulder a long automatic machine gun – I saw it had a magazine beneath it.

Everything he was wearing was tight, either boots or shoes and the trousers were tight, the jumper he was wearing was tight, no zippers or collars. Everything was toned black.

If you think of what a combat soldier looks like, that is it – just without the webbing. Just a man in military uniform, black jumper, black trousers, black shoes or boots and a machine gun. Maybe a woolly hat.

He was left-handed and shooting in bursts of three or four shots. It was fully intentional, professional bursts of three or four shots.

He killed three or four individuals who were sitting in the chairs in front of the cafe. We saw them get shot down. They fell off their chairs on to the ground.

He then swivelled and shot through a car driver’s window.

We then saw him walk into the cafe. He swivelled right and then swivelled left and opened fire. That is when we dived for cover.

We heard a total of maybe 15 or 20 shots, then everything went quiet.

You can read the full report here:

Paris attack witness: ‘he was dressed in black, professional, shooting and killing’
Psychotherapist Mark Colclough, a 43-year-old British-Danish dual citizen, was with a colleague on Rue de la Fontaine when he witnessed a gunman attack a cafe
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11h ago06:31
Paris is closing down many of its public spaces in response to this assault.

In a tweet from the city’s official account, authorities say “all of the city’s amenities”, including schools, museums, libraries, gyms, swimming pools and markets, will close on Saturday. Universities will also remain closed.

— Paris (@Paris)
November 14, 2015
Dès demain, fermeture de tous les équipements de la Ville: écoles, musées, bibliothèques, gymnases, piscines, marchés alimentaires

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12h ago06:24
François Hollande said that France would be closing its borders but in practice travel in and out of the country appears unimpeded, although security checks have been increased.

Airports remain open and flights have left the capital, but some airlines, including American Airlines, said they would be delaying flights to Paris. Many, including United, Delta, and Air France KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, were operating normally.

The French foreign ministry said airports would remain open with increased security checks.

Train services also continue as normal. Eurostar said its services between the UK and France would run as normal on Saturday, but it would allow passengers who no longer wished to travel to change their tickets.

French officials say they believe that all the attackers involved have been killed, but say they are searching for accomplices who could still be at large.

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12h ago06:22
Obama: ‘an attack on all humanity’

World leaders have condemned the attacks and pledged support for France in the wake of the attack.

US president Barack Obama described the atrocities as “an attack on all of humanity”.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, condemned “in the strongest ways this barbarous act”.

In Australia the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the attacks appeared “to have all the hallmarks of Daesh [Islamic State]”, adding that the events of Friday evening were “truthfully the work of the devil”.

We have rounded up international reaction here:

Paris terror attacks: world leaders condemn ‘the work of the devil’
From America to Australia, the pope, presidents and prime ministers have declared solidarity with the French people
Read more
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12h ago06:16
Saeed Kamali Dehghan Saeed Kamali Dehghan
My colleague Saeed Kamali Dehghan sends more on the reaction in Iran:

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has cancelled his official visit to France, due to take place next week, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris.

In a letter to his French counterpart, Rouhani strongly denounced the attacks as a “crime against humanity” and expressed condolences with the French people.

He was due in Rome on Saturday and then Paris next week on a major European visit, the first such trip by an Iranian president in a decade. He called off both visits in the early hours of Saturday, according to the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the country’s state news agency reported.

Rouhani’s visits were aimed at reviving Iran’s global image and rebuilding economic ties following the landmark nuclear agreement in July. Under that accord, Tehran agreed to roll back its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, including an end to the EU embargo on imports of Iranian oil.

It was meant to be Rouhani’s first official visit to Europe and also the first to the continent by an Iranian head of government since 1999, when the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, made similar trips to Paris and Rome.

Rouhani particularly wanted to present his country as a key regional player with an influential role in determining the fate of Syria, according to Ali-Akbar Mousavi Khoini, a former reformist Iranian MP.

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12h ago06:06
The map below shows the location of the six separate attacks – five of them in close proximity in the 10th and 11th arrondissements – in Paris on Friday evening.

The sixth took place at the Stade de France, where the French national team was playing Germany in a friendly football match. President François Hollande was at the stadium when two suicide bombs were detonated outside.

Officials now say 87 people are thought to have been killed at the Bataclan concert venue, the highest death toll of all the sites.

Casualty figures are being frequently revised as new information comes to light. At present, we understand that around 200 people are injured, 80 of them seriously, on top of the (at least) 120 people who have been killed.

— AP Interactive (@AP_Interactive)
November 14, 2015
Eight extremists dead following deadly #ParisAttacks – as many as 120 Parisians dead: https://t.co/k7NGIOWro9 pic.twitter.com/Z56qt6tg9Q

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12h ago05:59
How to contact friends and family in Paris

The French government has set up a site to gather witness statements and report missing people. It is currently slow to load, presumably because of the weight of traffic.

Here is also a reminder of some of the embassy numbers in Paris for people who may have concerns about friends or relatives.

British embassy: +33 1 44 51 31 00

US embassy Phone: +33 1 43 12 22 22

Irish embassy Phone:+33 1 44 17 67 00

The Australian department for foreign affairs has set up a hotline for those who are concerned about Australians overseas on 1300 555 135. Those who are overseas can call +612 6261 3305.

The New Zealand hotline is 04 439 8000.

Updated at 6.00am GMT
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12h ago05:56
Here is a round-up of the latest Guardian coverage of the Paris attacks:

Lead news story: shootings and explosions leave at least 120 dead
Eyewitness account: ‘he was dressed in black, professional, shooting and killing’
Analysis: what we know so far
Natalie Nougayrède: Paris attacks leave France in trauma, fearing for the future
How Friday evening’s events unfolded – as it happened
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12h ago05:48
This amateur footage from the Stade de France during the attack there shows the panic of the crowd as explosions rang out around them:

Updated at 4.01pm GMT
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12h ago05:43
Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, has denounced the attacks, calling them a “crime against humanity”, Agence France-Presse reports.

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12h ago05:42
Six locations across the city were targeted and we are slowly hearing casualty figures from each.

Overall, at least 120 people are thought to have been killed. Two hundred are injured, 80 seriously.

The eight attackers are also dead, seven of them after detonating suicide belts.

At the Stade de France, the Paris prosecutor François Molins said “some” were killed, possibly three. (It is not clear whether this include the attackers thought to have died here.)

At the Rue de Charonne, 18 are dead.

At Boulevard Voltaire: one dead.

At Rue de la fontaine au roi: five dead.

At Rue Alibert: 14 dead and “many seriously injured”.

Bataclan concert venue: 87 reported dead.

Panic near Place de la Republique.
Panic near Place de la Republique. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
People are evacuated following an attack at the Bataclan concert venue.
People are evacuated following an attack at the Bataclan concert venue. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
French fire brigade members aid an injured woman near the Bataclan concert hall.
French fire brigade members aid an injured woman near the Bataclan concert hall. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters
A victim of the attacks is nursed.
A victim of the attacks is nursed. Photograph: Elyxandro Cegarra/Demotix/Corbis
Updated at 7.10am GMT
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12h ago05:31
Opening summary

Claire Phipps Claire Phipps
Welcome to continuing live coverage of the unfolding events in Paris.

Here is what we know so far about the series of shootings and explosions that devastated the French capital on Friday evening:

At least 120 people are feared to have been killed in a series of devastating attacks across Paris.
Eight attackers also died, police say, seven of them by detonating explosive suicide belts.
Police continue to search for accomplices who might still be at large.
Two hundred people were injured, 80 of them seriously.
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Paris prosecutor says death toll is likely to top 120.
Shootings and explosions were reported in six locations across the city, including the Stade de France in northern Paris, where two suicide attacks and a bombing took place as the national team played Germany in a friendly football match.
The majority of victims died after a mass shooting inside the Bataclan concert venue.
Shootings also took place in restaurants and other sites in the centre of the city.
President François Hollande, who was at the Stade de France at the time of the assaults, said:
We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow.

A state of emergency has been declared across France and security at the country’s borders has been tightened.
Paris residents have been told to stay in their homes.
Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the attack “appears to have all the hallmarks of a Daesh exercise”. (Australia uses Daesh as its term for Islamic State.)
We will continue to bring you the latest updates as the investigation into the attack begins and we learn more about those who were killed and injured.

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Russian plane crashes in egypt

NOVEMBER 2, 20159:48AM

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All 224 passengers dead in Egypt plane crash

Network Writers with AFP, APNews Corp Australia Network

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ISLAMIC State has allegedly published terrifying footage purporting to show the moment the doomed Russian airliner, which the terrorist group claims to have downed, crashed down to earth and left no survivors.

The chilling, unverified video was uploaded to social media, appearing to show a midair explosion of a large structure resembling an aircraft. The black figure plummets through the sky before being consumed by smoke.

News Corp Australia is seeking to verify its authenticity. The video was not circulated in the militant group’s usual manner and the footage appears to show the plane flying at a lower altitude than the 30,000 feet it was cruising at, at the time of the incident.

Investigators have rejected the claims made by IS terrorists as they work to establish the cause of the crash of the Airbus A321 in Egypt.

Video claims to show final moments of crashed Russian jet

All 224 passengers — including 17 children — died when the flight to St Petersburg crashed in a mountainous area of central Sinai just 23 minutes after departing the resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Search and rescue officers have described a “tragic scene” after finding more than 100 bodies, including children, scattered at the crash site of a Russian plane in Egypt.

Grisly work … Egyptian paramedics load the corpses of victims of a Russian passenger plane crash in the Sinai Peninsula, into a military plane at Kabret military air base by the Suez Canal. Picture: Khaled Desouki/AFPSource:AFP

The plane’s black box data recorders have been recovered and sent for analysis.

Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov have arrived in Cairo with a team of experts to help with an Egyptian-led investigation.

Two air accident investigators from France — Airbus’s home country — are also to travel to Egypt along with six experts from the aerospace giant to help with the probe.

Crash scene … the remains of a Russian airliner which crashed is seen in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt.Source:Reuters

Russia has declared Sunday a day of national mourning for the victims, who ranged in age from a 10-month-old girl to a 77-year-old woman. Flags will fly at half mast on official buildings in Russia on Sunday and entertainment television programs will be cancelled.

The incident is among the deadliest involving an Airbus aircraft in the past decade. No Australians were on board.

Paris attacks

French President Francois Hollande said it was an act of war that was prepared and organized abroad, and with complicity’ from individuals in France. Photo: Reuters

Paris: An angry President Francois Hollande on Saturday promised a “merciless” response to a wave of attacks by gunmen and bombers that killed 127 people across Paris, describing the assault claimed by Islamic State as an act of war against France.

In the worst attack, a Paris city hall official said four gunmen systematically slaughtered at least 87 young people at a rock concert at the Bataclan concert hall before anti-terrorist commandos launched an assault on the building. Dozens of survivors were rescued, and bodies were still being recovered on Saturday morning.

Some 40 more people were killed in five other attacks in the Paris region, the official said, including an apparent double suicide bombing outside the Stade de France national stadium, where Hollande and the German foreign minister were watching a friendly soccer international.

The assaults came as France, a founder member of the US-led coalition waging air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for terrorist attacks.

It was the worst such attack in Europe since the Madrid train bombings of 2004, in which 191 died.

Hollande said the attacks had been organised from abroad by Islamic State, with internal help.

People close to the investigation said one of the dead gunmen was French with ties to Islamist militants. Syrian and Egyptian passports were found near the bodies of two of the suicide bombers.

A man arrested in Germany in early November after guns and explosives were found in his car may be linked to the attacks in Paris, Bavaria’s state premier said, without giving details.

‘Merciless’

“Faced with war, the country must take appropriate action,” Hollande said after an emergency meeting of security chiefs. He also announced three days of national mourning.

“France will be merciless towards these barbarians from Daesh,” he said, using an Arab acronym for Islamic State.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement: “The war we must wage should be total.”

During a visit to Vienna, US secretary of state John Kerry said “we are witnessing a kind of medieval and modern fascism at the same time.”

In its claim of responsibility, Islamic State said the attacks were a response to France’s campaign against its fighters.

It also distributed an undated video in which a militant said France would not live peacefully as long it took part in US-led bombing raids against them.

“As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear travelling to the market,” said a bearded Arabic-speaking militant, flanked by other fighters.

A French government official told Reuters there were 127 dead, 67 in critical condition and 116 wounded. Six attackers blew themselves up and one was shot by police. There may have been an eighth attacker, but this was not confirmed.

The attacks, in which automatic weapons and explosives belts were used, lasted 40 minutes.

“The terrorists, the murderers, raked several cafe terraces with machine-gun fire before entering (the concert hall). There were many victims in terrible, atrocious conditions in several places,” police prefect Michel Cadot told reporters.

State of emergency

After being whisked from the stadium near the blasts, Hollande declared a national state of emergency, the first since World War Two. Border controls were temporarily reimposed to stop perpetrators escaping.

Local sports events were suspended, department stores closed, the rock band U2 cancelled a concert, and schools, universities and municipal buildings were ordered to stay shut on Saturday. Some rail and air services were expected to run.

Sylvestre, a young man who was at the Stade de France when bombs went off there, said he was saved by his cellphone, which he was holding to his ear when debris hit it.

“This is the cell phone that took the hit, it’s what saved me,” he said. “Otherwise my head would have been blown to bits,” he said, showing the phone with its screen smashed.

French newspapers spoke of “carnage” and “horror”. Le Figaro’s headline said: “War in the heart of Paris” on a black background with a picture of people on stretchers.

Emergency services were mobilized, police leave was cancelled, 1,500 army reinforcements were drafted into the Paris region and hospitals recalled staff to cope with the casualties.

Radio stations warned Parisians to stay at home and urged residents to give shelter to anyone caught out in the street.

The deadliest attack was on the Bataclan, a popular concert venue where the Californian rock group Eagles of Death Metal was performing. Some witnesses in the hall said they heard the gunmen shout Islamic chants and slogans condemning France’s role in Syria.

The hall is near the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. France has been on high alert since Islamist gunmen attacked the paper and a kosher supermarket in January, killing 18 people.

Those attacks briefly united France in defence of freedom of speech, with a mass demonstration of more than a million people. But that unity has since broken down, with far-right populist Marine Le Pen gaining on both mainstream parties by blaming immigration and Islam for France’s security problems.

It was not clear what political impact the latest attacks would have less than a month before regional elections in which Le Pen’s National Front is set to make further advances.

The governing Socialist Party and the National Front suspended their election campaigns.

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel led a global chorus of solidarity with France. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the “despicable attacks” while Pope Francis called the killings “inhuman”.

France ordered increased security at its sites abroad. Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands also tightened security measures.

Poland, meanwhile, said that the attacks meant it could not now take its share of migrants under a European Union plan. Many of the migrants currently flooding into Europe are refugees from Syria.

Point-blank

Julien Pearce, a journalist from Europe 1 radio, was inside the concert hall when the shooting began. In an eyewitness report posted on the station’s website, Pearce said several very young individuals, who were not wearing masks, entered the hall during the concert, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and started “blindly shooting at the crowd”.

“There were bodies everywhere,” he said.

The gunmen shot their victims in the back, finishing some off at point-blank range before reloading their guns and firing again, Pearce said, after escaping into the street by a stage door, carrying a wounded girl on his shoulder.

Toon, a 22-year-old messenger who lives near the Bataclan, was going into the concert hall with two friends at around 10.30pm (2130 GMT) when he saw three young men dressed in black and armed with machine guns. He stayed outside.

One of the gunmen began firing into the crowd. “People were falling like dominoes,” he told Reuters. He saw people shot in the leg, shoulder and back, with several lying on the floor, apparently dead.

Two explosions were heard near the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, where the France-Germany soccer match was being played. A witness said one of the detonations blew people into the air outside a McDonald’s restaurant opposite the stadium.

In central Paris, shooting erupted in mid-evening outside a Cambodian restaurant in the capital’s 10th district.

Eighteen people were killed when a gunman opened fire on Friday night diners sitting at outdoor terraces in the popular Charonne area nearby in the 11th district. Reuters

Geert de Clercq, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Emmanuel Jarry, Elizabeth Pineau, Julien Pretot and Bate Felix Tabi-Tabe contributed to this story.

Paris attacks

A set of shootings and explosions hit Paris late on Friday, killing at least 127 people and injuring more than 200 in one of the city’s densest districts on a Friday night. The identity of the terrorists and their motives are still unknown, although French President François Hollande has promised a “merciless” response. Here’s a running tally of what we do and don’t know about the violence:

What we know

• According to the Associated Press, explosions were reported near the Stade de France, a soccer stadium near Paris, as were shootings inside the city itself. Here’s a map of the attacks:

(Javier Zarracina/Vox)

• According to the BBC‘s Katya Adler, “French channels [reported] masked men started shooting in all directions around a group of restaurants with outdoor terraces central.”
• After the shooting attack at the Paris Bataclan concert hall, attackers took more 100 people hostage there, according to police. Police later stormed the Bataclan and ended the hostage situation.
• At least 127 people were killed in total, according to Hollande. Another 200 were injured, 99 of them critically. The majority of victims died at the Bataclan concert hall.
• Eight attackers are dead, seven of whom detonated explosive suicide belts, according to French police. Authorities believe that all the attackers involved have been killed, but they continue to search for accomplices who may be at large.
• In statements released online in French and Arabic, ISISclaimed responsibility for the attacks, though the veracity of the claim is still unclear. But President Hollande on Saturday blamed ISIS, as well.
• According to ABC News, Reuters, the Guardian, and other media outlets, one of the attackers had a Syrian passport. But it’s not yet clear if the passport belonged to the attacker.
• In a statement, President Hollande announced that a state of emergency was imposed for the whole country and that France would close its borders. His office later clarified that while the country will not be closed, border controls will be instated.
• At the time of the reported explosions, the German and French soccer teams were playing a match. After the match, police asked fans to stay in the stadium, where they milled around the field:

(VI Images/Getty Images)

• An amateur video posted by the Guardian shows the aftermath of the attacks at Stade de France and La Royexpla

• What we don’t know

  • Who the attackers are. ISIS has claimed responsibility, but as their statement merely repeats information available in media reports, it’s not yet clear that they are in fact responsible.
  • Whether the attacks were coordinated, or what the connection between them might be. US security officials told Reuters that they currently believe the attacks were coordinated, but information is still sketchy and subject to change.
  • The final death toll.
  • How France, or other countries such as the US, will respond.

  Watch: Syria’s civil war, explained

 

Justice for 188 killed in second deadliest terror strike in India

Source- Sep 12 2015 : The Times of India (Bangalore)

Rebecca Samervel

Mumbai:

12 Of 13 Accused Convicted For 2006 Mumbai Train Serial BlastsState May Seek Death Penalty On Monday

A special court on Friday convicted 12 of the 13 accused for the second deadliest terror attack on Indian soil, which killed 188 and injured 817 first-class suburban commuters during evening rush-hour on July 11, 2006, on the world’s busiest rapid transit system.All 12 convicts face a maximum punishment of death and a minimum of life in jail for their role in the plot which was hatched in Pakistan. Asked if he would seek the death penalty , the FULL COVERAGE: P 19 special public prosecutor (SPP), Raja Thakare, said “everybody“ felt such offences deserved no mercy and “the law must respond to society’s cry for justice.“

The verdict for the 117 attacks, which changed how a large section of Mumbaikars viewed their daily commute on the city’s lifeline, came on the 14th anniversary of the 9 11 attacks in New York City , which changed the way the world viewed terrorism.

The investigators had said that the bombings were designed by the Pakistanbased Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which used banned Indian outfit SIMI, to execute their plan. According to the police, 10 members of the LeT had brought around 15-20kg RDX with them from Pakis tan and made bombs using the deadly explosive. They used young Indians to execute their terror plot.

The seven blasts occurred in a span of eight minutes, starting 6.23pm, on trains at or near Khar, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Mahim, Borivli, Matunga and Mira Road stations. The court’s pronouncement, which brought some sort of closure for the victims’ kin as well as survivors, came at 12.05pm after incamera proceedings where all the 13 accused, their lawyers, serving and former officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad and intelligence officers were present. Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court judge Yatin Shinde read out sections of the Indian Penal Code, MCOCA and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act before pronouncing the verdict, which did not provoke any outward expression of emotion from any of the accused, who range in age from 33 to 46.They come from diverse backgrounds and professions ranging from a unani medical practitioner and software engineer to a footwear shopowner and a local lock-and-key maker. One of the planters, Ehtesham Siddiqui, is known to be a religious book writer and publisher from Mira Road. “Faisal Shaikh, who played a major role in the bombings, had visited Pakistan twice–in 2004 and 2005–and got training in LeT camps in assembling bombs and operating firearms. He was in direct touch with the LeT’s Bahawalpur camp chief, Azam Cheema.Money was sent from Pakistan to other countries and finally reached India to carry out the blasts,“ said an officer who was part of the investigation.

SPP Thakare said he would study various judgments, including the one that gave Yakub Memon death, as well as the Law Commission report (which has recommended death for on ly terror attacks) before making his arguments.

The trial in the case concluded in August 2014, leaving a little over a year for the pronouncement of the judgment. The date of the judgement and production warrants were issued to the accused only a day earlier.

All 13 accused were brought into court room number 58 amid heavy security around 11.30am. Security around the entire fifth floor of the court building was beefed up and the four elevators were not allowed to go beyond the fourth floor.The courtroom is housed at the end of the corridor and is fortified with collapsible gates and a metal detector. As proceedings commenced, the gates were locked. The proceedings lasted only about 20-25 minutes.

About 50 journalists across various newspapers and channels were banned from attending the proceedings. The court’s decision to keep the media at bay came after an application was filed by the police officer in charge of the security .

Pak Caught Red-Handed, Again

Aug 06 2015 :  Source – The Times of India (Bangalore)

Deeptiman Tiwary, Bharti Jain & Sanjay Khajuria

New DelhiJammu: TNN

Kasab-II: Terrorist Who Sneaked In Across Border Captured, Accomplice ShotLeT Duo Attack BSF Convoy In Jammu, Kill 2; Target Was Amarnath Yatra

Seven years after Mumbai cop Tukaram Omble captured Ajmal Kasab, two unarmed villagers overpowered an AK-47wielding terrorist who had sneaked in from across the border to kill Amarnath yatris and attack military targets. Their courage not only prevented what could have been a ghastly tragedy , it once again provided living proof of Pakistan’s sponsorship of jihadi terrorism aimed against India.The captured terrorist, Usman Naved alias Kasim, was quickly dubbed Kasab-II by the media -and not just because of his startling resemblance to the man who went on a killing spree on 2611.

Only the second Pakistani terrorist after Kasab to have been caught alive, he acknowledged his nationality as well as membership of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the most loyal of ISI’s stable of terror gangs, confirming yet again the outfit’s plan to bleed India by unleashing young but intensely motivated jihadis.

Even more damningly for Pakistan, Naved was cap tured just a day after the head of Pakistan’s 2611 probe confirmed that the Mumbai strike was planned and launched from that country .

Naved cheerfully smiled for TV cameras and appeared relaxed, but his words were chilling. He said he was from Ghulam Mohammadabad near Faisalabad in Pakistan. “We’re here to kill and only kill. We were here to kill Hindus,“ he said matter-of-factly.“We worked for the cause of Allah… Had you not caught us, you would have known what we would have done.“

He claimed that he wanted to avenge the “relentless killing“ of Kashmiris. “Had I been killed, it would have been Allah’s doing. There is fun in doing this,“ he said.

Naved had taken three residents of a border village in Udhampur -Rajesh Kumar, Rajesh Sharma and Vikramjeet -hostage after attacking a BSF bus on the SrinagarJammu national highway near Udhampur.

Two BSF jawans were killed in the ambush while 12 were wounded.

The terrorist accompanying Naved, Momin Khan, from Bahawalpur in Punjab province of Pakistan, was killed in retaliatory fire by BSF jawans when he tried to forcibly enter their bus.

Taking advantage of a weak moment when Naved stopped to eat, the hostages overpowered and disarmed him and held on to him until security forces reached them.

The high degree of Naved’s motivation was evident from the precision with which he coordinated the attack with Momin. While Momin flagged down the BSF bus, opening fire immediately , Naved launched an assault with his Kalashnikov from a nearby hill, inflicting fatal injuries on two of the BSF troopers.

This was the first terror attack in a decade’s time near Udhampur, a strategic city where the northern command of the Army is headquartered. Coming just nine days after the attack on Gur daspur in Punjab, it marked strong evidence of the ISI and its gangs expanding the arc of terror to new territories. Authorities were relieved that the jihadi duo had missed a bus carrying Amarnath yatris which passed the attack site just a while ago.

Unlike the BSF jawans who were armed, the pilgrims would have been sitting ducks. Any jihadi attack on them would also be fraught with risk of inflaming communal passions. The national highway is a popular route with the yatris who travel to Amarnath for a glimpse of the icy Shivling during the Hindu month of Shravan( July-August).Naved, who identified his father as Yaqub, appears to come from what can be called a regular background. One of his brothers teaches at the Government College University in Faisalabad, while another runs a hosiery business: a stark contrast the desperate poverty Kasab was born into.

His arrest happened in the most unlikely circumstance.Trying to escape after having lost his associate, Naved held the three villagers hostage asking them to take him to a safe place where he could hide until he got the opportunity to cross over. According to the account of his hostages, after sometime, he felt hun gry and sat down to eat, unwittingly lowering his guard in the process. Rajesh Kumar, one of the three villagers, sensed an opportunity and held him by the neck while another took away his gun.

Later, Rajesh Kumar told TV channels that they had misled Naved from the beginning. “Keeping me at his gun point, he asked me to take him to a place where nobody could see him. However, instead of following his order, we misled him.“

According to preliminary interrogation details, which are still being verified by intelligence agencies, Naved entered J&K around 40 days back along with Momin and two other jihadis after breaching the fence on LoC in Bandipora.

For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

 

Terror revisits punjab

Ref – toi

Sri Sri gets ISIS death threat in Malaysia

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TNN | Mar 29, 2015, 01.24AM IST

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (File photo)

BENGALURU: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), has received death threats from ISIS during his current visit to Malaysia. 

Indian embassy and local authorities, including Malaysian police, were informed about the three threat letters. “Guruji is currently in Malaysia. The Indian embassy in Malaysia has been informed about the threat letters,” a spokesperson for AOL said here on Saturday.

One letter was received by Gavin Weighthead, general manager of Hotel Jen in Penang, Malaysia, the second by Ambika Menon, director of Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values (Malaysia), and the third by Ee Mei, a senior AOL faculty.

In one letter, which has a picture of a man being beheaded, ISIS said Sri Sri and others can expect similar treatment if they step into Malaysia or any other Muslim country.

The organization would destroy all venues where AOL and IAHV are conducting their activities. Thousands would die, it added.

Despite the threat, a yoga programme for more than 10,000 people was conducted by AOL in Penang on Saturday morning. Sri Sri addressed about 70,000 people at the Batu Kawan Stadium in the evening, the AOL spokesperson said.

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`Terror outfits in Af operate out of Pak’

Jun 23 2015 : The Times of India (Bangalore)

`Terror outfits in Af operate out of Pak’

Neeraj Chauhan

Even as Afghanistan recently signed an agreement with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI on sharing intelligence and coordinating operations, the `Country Reports on Terrorism 2014′ released by the US department of state last week said “several terrorist networks active in Afghanistan, such as al-Qaida, the Haqqani network and others, operate largely out of Pakistan.“The US report said, “Afghanistan, in particular, continued to experience aggressive and coordinated attacks by the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, and other insurgent and terrorist groups. A number of these attacks were planned and launched from safe havens in Pakistan.“

Talking about threats to Afghanistan, the US report said, “The border region of Afghan istan and Pakistan is an undergoverned area which hosts terrorist cells active in both countries. The government of Afghanistan has struggled to assert control over this remote terrain where the population is largely detached from national institutions. Afghanistan generally cooperates with US counterterrorism efforts.Since President (Ashraf) Ghani’s election, he has actively pursued cross-border security cooperation with the government of Pakistan, including the prospect of joint operations to reduce safe havens on both sides of the border.“

The US report also raised concern over proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan. “The potential for WMD trafficking and proliferation remained a concern in Afghanistan because of its porous borders and the presence of terrorist groups,“ it said.