News
French Police Say All Paris Attackers Are Dead
UPDATE: One day after ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Paris terror attacks, France reportedly launched airstrikes against the militant group in Syria, dropping 20 bombs in the area. Some targets were destroyed, according to reports, but not much else is known about the airstrikes.
One of the suspected suicide bombers has been identified as Ismael Omar Mostefai. Authorities also confirmed that seven of the assailants have died, and the attacks were carried out by three coordinated groups. Paris police, however, are currently hunting for an eighth attacker who may still be at large, who has been identified as 26-year-old Abdeslam Salah.
Officials have confirmed that a police raid in Belgium led to the arrests of seven individuals who may have ties to the attacks.
On Saturday, French president François Hollande has also put the blame on ISIS, calling their actions an "act of war." Said ISIS in a statement released less than 24 hours after the attacks:
France needs to know it still remains at the top of the target list of the Islamic State.
The death toll currently sits at about 130, with over 350 wounded. (One of those killed was an American woman studying abroad in France.) According to French Prosecutor François Molins, nearly 100 of those wounded are critically injured.
EARLIER: Following the deadly attack Friday that killed over 100 people, French police say that all the Paris terror attackers are dead. The attack, which began Friday night with at least six shootings and three explosions, was carried out over several locations, with attackers holding hundreds hostage in the Bataclan concert hall before killing over 100 attending the Eagles of Death Metal concert. Eyewitnesses on the scene described it as a "scene of carnage," according to The New York Times.
Despite reports trickling in over the last few hours, there are still a lot of unknown factors surrounding the attacks. Namely, who is responsible. Though officials are claiming all the assailants have been killed (two were confirmed killed in a siege on at Bataclan during the hostage situation, and two were reported to be suicide bombers), the motivations behind the attacks are still unknown. Though those watching the events unfold on the news are unaware of who would carry out the attacks, French President François Hollande, who was at the Stade de France watching France play Germany when the terrorist attacks began, said in a press conference, "We know where it comes from, who these criminals are, who these terrorists are."
But if officials know, they're staying silent, at least for now. World leaders, meanwhile, are speaking out against the attacks, with President Barack Obama rallying support from the U.S.
This is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share. We stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance the people of France need to respond.
Hollande has declared a state of emergency and closed France's borders following the attack.
Image: Spencer Platt/Getty