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PARIS TERROR ATTACKS

TERRORISM

What we know so far about the Paris attackers

UPDATED: Here's what we know so far about the terrorists - now numbered at seven - all wearing suicide vests, who wrought unprecedented violence in six locations across Paris on Friday.

Published: 14 November 2015 17:32 CET
Updated: 14 November 2015 21:32 CET
Information is slowly filtering out about the identities and motives of the seven attackers who killed 129 people in Paris on Friday night.
 
Here's the key information about what we know so far, with the latest news at the top.
 
  • Focus on investigation moves to Belgium: Belgium has opened a terrorism probe linked to the attacks in Paris as police raided a neighbourhood in the capital Brussels and arrested several suspects, prosecutors said Saturday.The federal prosecutor's office said its counterparts in Paris had asked for help after a car with Belgian license plates and rented in Belgium was found near a concert hall where scores of people were killed on Friday night. An anti-terrorism judge took up the case because two of the people killed in Paris were Belgians, the office said in a statement. “The investigation is opened into a charge of terrorism and participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” the prosecutor's office said. “Several arrests were carried out at the end of the afternoon. The operations are still underway in the Molenbeek neighbourhood,” it added.

  • Three arrests made: The French prosecutor has said that three people were arrested on Saturday morning in connection with the attacks, including one at France's border with Belgium.

  • 'Three teams' behind attacks: In his press conference on Saturday night, prosecutor Francois Molins told journalists “three co-ordinated teams” were responsible for Friday's attacks.
     
    “We have to find who these people are, who their accomplices are, who ordered this, where they come from, how they were financed,” he said.
  • Questions are once again being asked whether French intelligence services could have stopped the attack after it emerged one attacker was known to intelligence services since 2010. According to reports, this terrorist was killed at the Bataclan concert hall and was formally identified by his fingerprints as a Frenchman, born in a Parisian suburb in Courcouronnes. He has been named in the media as Ismael M.
  • Police have confirmed a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the assailants involved in a wave of deadly attacks on Paris, police confirmed to news agency AFP on Saturday.
  • That same passport was used to register as a refugee on the Greek island of Leros on October 3, Greek minister for citizen protection Nikos Toskas said in a statement.
  • The Guardian also reported that the Paris attackers 'had French, Egyptian and Syrian passports'.
  • A woman may also have been one of the attackers, Europe 1 reported, citing a couple who saw the woman among the attackers at the Bataclan concert hall.
  • All seven attackers were killed by their own suicide bombs – although French prosecutors have warned their accomplices could be on the run. In its statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, Isis said it had sent eight brothers.
  • Investigators are working on the assumption that the terrorists were divided into two groups: the first near the Stade de France and the second in Paris’ 10th and 11th districts.
  • The police forensic team is carrying out DNA tests on the bodies of the suicide bombers, which were “mostly pulverized”, according to a police source who spoke to BFMTV. Initial tests have so far failed to reveal anything about their identity. The results should be available in two days, BFMTV reported.
  • A man arrested in southern Germany last week, who had weapons including machine guns and explosives in his car, has been linked to the attacks, German media reported on Saturday. Read more via The Local Germany here.
  • A Volkswagen Polo found near the Bataclan is being tested for fingerprints. It may have been used by the terrorists.
  • Four of the assailants were killed when police stormed into the Bataclan concert hall, a popular venue in eastern Paris which was packed with 1,500 people attending a gig by the US band Eagles of Death Metal.
  • Three died after activating their suicide vests while the fourth was shot dead – but not before they had killed at least 82 people.
  • One of the attackers could be heard saying, “It’s the fault of Hollande, it’s the fault of your president, he should not have intervened in Syria.”
  • Another witness at the Bataclan told The Local that the three attackers “sounded Arab-French”, but this has not been confirmed. The witness also heard the assailants shouting “This is for Syria, this is for Iraq”.
  • A judicial source said another attacker died when he detonated his suicide vest on Boulevard Voltaire, near the Bataclan.
  • Three other assailants are believed to have died in suicide bombs outside the Stade de France on rue Jules-Rimet.
  • Paris forensic examiners believe that the attackers were aged between 15 and 18 years old after examining their bodies, Europe 1 radio reported:

More details to follow.
 

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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