November 2015 Paris attacks...

On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacksoccurred in Paris and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis.^[7] Beginning at 21:20 CET, three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, followed by suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants and a music venue in central Paris.^[8]

The attackers killed 130 people,^[2] including 89 at the Bataclan theatre,^[9]where they took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police. Another 368 people were injured,^[4] 80–99 seriously.^[5][6] Seven of the attackers also died, while the authorities continued to search for accomplices.^[3] The attacks were the deadliest on France since World War II,^[10][11] and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.^[12] France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo offices and a Jewish supermarket in Paris that killed 17 people and wounded 22, including civilians and police officers.^[13]

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks,^[14][15] saying that it was in retaliation for the French airstrikes on ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq.^[16][17] The President of France, François Hollande, said the attacks were an act of war by ISIL^[18][19][20] planned in Syria, organised in Belgium, and perpetrated with French complicity.^[21]

In response, a three-month state of emergency was declared across the country to help fight terrorism, which involved the banning of public demonstrations, and allowing the police to carry out searches without a warrant, put anyone under house arrest without trial and block websites that encouraged acts of terrorism.^[22] On 15 November, France launched the biggest airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, striking ISIL targets in Al-Raqqah.^[23] On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, along with at least two other people.^[24]

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Background

See also: Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War § France and Britain

France had been on high alert for terrorism since the Charlie Hebdo shootingand a series of related attacks in January by militants belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,^[13] and had increased security in anticipation of the2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, scheduled to be held in Paris at the beginning of December, as well as reinstating border checks a week before the attacks.^[13]

Throughout 2015, France witnessed smaller attacks: the February stabbing of three soldiers guarding a Jewish community centre in Nice,^[25] the Juneattempt to blow up a factory in Saint-Quentin Fallavier,^[26] and the Augustshooting and stabbing attack on a passenger train.^[27]

The Bataclan theatre had been threatened a number of times because of its public support for Israel.^[28] Two Jewish brothers, Pascal and Joël Laloux,^[29][30] owned the Bataclan for more than 40 years before selling it in September 2015.^[31] In 2011, a group calling itself Army of Islam told French security services they had planned an attack on the Bataclan because its owners were Jewish.^{[28][32][33][34]}

In the weeks leading up to the Paris attacks, ISIL and its branches had claimed responsibility for several other attacks: the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October^[35][36] and the suicide bombings in Beirut on 12 November.^[37][38]

Intelligence agencies in Turkey, Iraq and Israel had all warned of an imminent attack on France months beforehand, but were ignored by the French authorities.^{[39][40][41][42][43]}

Attacks

Timeline of attacks

13 November:

• 21:20^{[note 1]} – First suicide bombing near the Stade de France.^[8]
• 21:25 – Shooting at the rue Bichat.^[8]
• 21:30^{[note 1]} – Second suicide bombing near the Stade de France.^[8]
• 21:32 – Shooting at the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi.^[8]
• 21:36 – Shooting at the rue de Charonne.^[8]
• 21:40 – Suicide bombing onboulevard Voltaire.^[8]
• 21:40 – Three men enter the Bataclan theatre and begin shooting.^[8]
• 21:53 – Third suicide bombing near the Stade de France.^[8]
• 22:00 – Hostages are taken at the Bataclan.^[44]

14 November:

• 00:20 – Security forces enter the Bataclan.^[8]
• 00:58 – French police end the siege on the Bataclan.^[44]

All times are CET (UTC+1).

Three teams^[21][45] launched six distinct attacks:^[46] three suicide bombings in one attack, a fourth suicide bombing in another attack, and shootings at four locations in four separate attacks.^[47][48] Shootings were reported in the vicinity of the rue Alibert, the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, the rue de Charonne, the Bataclan theatre, and avenue de la République.^[49][50][51] Three explosions occurred near the Stade de France, another on boulevard Voltaire, and two of the Bataclan shooters also detonated their suicide vests as police ended the stand-off.^[52] According to the Paris prosecutor, the attackers wore suicide vests that used acetone peroxide as an explosive.^[53]

Stade de France explosions

President François Hollande(pictured in 2013) was at the Stade de France during the attacks

Three explosions occurred near the country's national sports stadium, the Stade de France, in the suburb of Saint-Denis, resulting in four deaths, including the three suicide bombers.^[54]The explosions happened at 21:20, 21:30,^{[note 1]}and 21:53.^[55] The first explosion near the stadium was about 20 minutes after the start of an international friendly football match betweenFrance and Germany, which President Hollande was attending.^[56][57] The first bomber was prevented from entering the stadium after a security guard patted him down and discovered the suicide vest;^[58] a few seconds after being turned away, he detonated the vest, killing himself and a bystander.^[59]Investigators later surmised that the first suicide bomber had planned to detonate his vest within the stadium, triggering the crowd's panicked exit onto the streets where two other bombers were lying in wait.^[60] Ten minutes after the first bombing, the second bomber blew himself up near the stadium.^{[note 1]} Another 23 minutes after that, the third bomber's vest detonated nearby; according to some reports, that location was at aMcDonald's restaurant;^[58][61] others state that the bomb detonated some distance away from any discernible target.^[62]

Hollande was evacuated from the stadium at half-time, while the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, remained at the stadium.^[63][64] Hollande met with his interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve to co-ordinate a response to the emergency.^[65] Two of the explosions were heard on the live televised broadcast of the match;^{[note 1]} both football coaches were informed by French officials of a developing crisis, but players and fans were kept unaware of it until the game had finished.^[66] Hollande, concerned that the safety of the crowd outside the stadium could not be assured if the match was immediately cancelled, decided that the game should continue without a public announcement.^[60]

Following the game, fans were brought onto the pitch to await evacuation as police monitored all the exits around the venue. Security sources said all three explosions were suicide bombings.^[13] The German national football team was advised not to return to their hotel, where there had been a bomb threat earlier in the day, and they spent the night in the stadium on mattresses, along with the French team, who stayed with them in a display of camaraderie.^{[67] ...CLICK HER FOR CONTINUITY...}