In one of Europe's most ghastly terrorist attacks of recent, three bombs were simultaneously detonated across Paris yesterday. At least 120 people were killed at the Bataclan Concert Hall while 40 others died in other locations as Islamic terrorists hit the city hard.
One French government official said the country had been placed in a state of emergency and that President Francois Hollande has cancelling his trip to the G20 meeting in Turkey. President Hollande was due to leave Saturday for the meeting in Turkey, which was to focus on growing fears of terrorism by Islamic extremists.
According to the official, the French government would hold a defence council meeting today to ascertain the full effects of the attacks. Two Paris police officials said security forces had ended an assault on a concert hall filled with hostages, killing at least two attackers.
Catching the authorities off guard, two explosions were heard outside the Stade de France stadium north of Paris during a France-Germany friendly football match. One police official confirmed one explosion in a bar near the stadium and two explosions said to be loud enough to penetrate the sounds of cheering fans went off in the stadium.
This latest attack comes as France heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference due to hold in two weeks time out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks. France has been on edge since deadly attacks by Islamic extremists in January on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery store that left 20 dead, including the three attackers.
Le Carillon, the restaurant targeted yesterday, is in the same general neighbourhood as the Charlie Hebdo offices. France has seen several smaller-scale attacks or attempts since January, including an incident on a high-speed train in August in which American travellers thwarted a heavily armed Islamic radical trying to attack passengers.
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