Multiple explosions and shootings throughout Paris, France has taken the lives of 153 people. What started as a normal Friday evening of Parisians on-the-town enjoying Europe’s “global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture” tearfully ended in carnage. At least 100 were killed at the Bataclan concert hall during an rock concert by Los Angeles-based American band, Eagles of Death Metal. Two gunmen fired repeatedly into the crowd in the club just before midnight, reloading and executing people before the the hostage horror ended in their deaths. The coordinated attacks happened in various venues around the city including Le Carillon, a restaurant in the 10th Arrondissement.
In January 2015,12 people were killed in a terror attack by Yemen’s Al-Qaeda at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine that published controversial cartoons, mocking Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Others died in a reported suicide blast near the Stade de France.
President François Hollande declared a state of emergency and closed the French borders.
President Barack Obama confirmed the United States is “prepared and ready” to provide assistance to France. “This is an attack not just on Paris. It’s an attack not just on the people of France. But this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share,” he said, “we’re going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice.”
