Paris attacks (11, 2015) and Importance of Peace
Pray For Paris |
On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks—consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and hostage-taking—occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis.
In front of restaurants Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge on 16 November |
Beginning at 21:20 CET, there were three suicide bombings outside the Stade de France, along with mass shootings and another suicide bombing at four locations near central Paris. The deadliest attack was at the Bataclan theatre, where the attackers took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police until 00:58 on 14 November.
French police gathering evidence at the Bataclan theatre on 14 November |
The attacks killed 129 people, 89 of whom were at the Bataclan theatre. 433 people were admitted to hospital with injuries sustained in the attacks, including 80 described as being critically injured. In addition to the victims, seven attackers died, and the authorities continued to search for any accomplices still at large. The attacks were the deadliest in France since World War II and the deadliest in Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.
Flowers and tributes have been left outside Le Carillon bar in Paris |
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks, and French President François Hollande stated that he considered the attack to be "an act of war" carried out by ISIL, "planned in Syria, organised in Belgium, perpetrated on our soil with French complicity". France had been bombing various targets in the Middle East, including Syria, since October 2015. ISIL's stated motive was retaliation for French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War.
The Eiffel Tower lit with the blue, white and red colours of the French flag in Paris |
In the weeks leading up to the attacks, ISIL had claimed responsibility for several attacks, such as twin suicide bombings in Beirut two days earlier, and the crashing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October. France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, including civilians and police officers.
Attacks in Paris on 7 January 2015 left 17 people dead. Twelve were killed during a shooting at the Charlie Hebdo offices |
In response, a state of emergency was declared, the first since the 2005 riots, and temporary controls were placed on the country's borders. People and organisations expressed solidarity, some through social media. On 15 November, France launched its largest single airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, by striking targets in Al-Raqqah, in retaliation for the attacks.
TERROR IN PARIS
Imagine all the people living life in peace. We can obtain peace as love each other. Power of love with tolerance, accept and respect overcomes everything. We can achieve the Peace if we all pitch in.
"One who lives by wearing grace cannot kill and destroy live and expect to repay the grace truly, Religion has to become One."