A series of coordinated Islamic terrorist attacks took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:16, three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, during an international football match, after failing to gain entry to the stadium. Another group of attackers then fired on crowded cafés and restaurants in Paris, with one of them also detonating an explosive, killing himself in the process. A third group carried out another mass shooting and took hostages at an Eagles of Death Metal concert attended by 1,500 people in the Bataclan theatre, leading to a stand-off with police. The attackers were either shot or detonated suicide vests when police raided the theatre.
The attackers killed 130 people, including 90 at the Bataclan theatre. Another 416 people suffered physical injuries, almost 100 critically, while 457 more were hospitalized for acute psychological trauma. Seven of the attackers were also killed. The attacks were the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings of 2004, and the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of France. The attacks came one day after similar attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, and thirteen days after the bombing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. 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.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attacks (as they had done with the Beirut attacks a day prior), saying that it was retaliation for French airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq. The president of France, François Hollande, said the attacks were an act of war by the Islamic State. The attacks were planned in Syria and organised by a terrorist cell based in Belgium. Two of the Paris attackers were Iraqis, but most were born in France or Belgium, and had fought in Syria. Some of the attackers had returned to Europe among the flow of migrants and refugees from Syria.
In response to the attacks, 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. On 15 November, France launched the biggest airstrike of Opération Chammal, its part in the bombing campaign against Islamic State. The authorities searched for surviving attackers and accomplices. On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, along with two others.
Background
France had been on high alert for terrorism since the Charlie Hebdo shooting and a series of related attacks in January by militants belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and had increased security in anticipation of the 2015 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.
Throughout 2015, France witnessed smaller attacks: the February stabbing of three soldiers guarding a Jewish community centre in Nice, the June attempt to blow up a factory in Saint-Quentin Fallavier, and the August shooting and stabbing attack on a passenger train.
The Bataclan theatre had been threatened a number of times because of its support for Jewish organisations and Israel. Two Jewish brothers, Pascal and Joël Laloux, owned the Bataclan for more than 40 years before selling it in September 2015. 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.
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 and the suicide bombings in Beirut on 12 November.
Intelligence agencies in Turkey and Iraq had reportedly warned of an imminent attack on France months beforehand, but said they never heard back from the French authorities until after the attacks. According to The Irish Times, a senior French security official said they receive this kind of correspondence "every day".
This was one of two terrorist cells sent to Europe by the Islamic State in 2015, the other cell consisting of three Syrians was apprehended by German special police in Schleswig-Holstein in mid September 2016.
Attacks
Timeline of attacks
13 November:
- 21:16 – First suicide bombing near the Stade de France.
- 21:19 – Second suicide bombing near the Stade de France.
- 21:24 – Shooting at the rue Bichat.
- 21:26 – Shooting at the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi.
- 21:36 – Shooting at the rue de Charonne.
- 21:40 – Suicide bombing on boulevard Voltaire.
- 21:40 – Three men enter the Bataclan theatre and begin shooting.
- 21:53 – Third suicide bombing near the Stade de France.
- 22:00 – Hostages are taken at the Bataclan.
14 November:
- 00:20 – Security forces enter the Bataclan.
- 00:58 – French police end the siege on the Bataclan.
All times are CET (UTC+1).
Three groups of men launched six distinct attacks: three suicide bombings in one attack, a fourth suicide bombing in another attack, and shootings at four locations. The shootings were 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. 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 standoff. According to the Paris prosecutor, the attackers wore suicide vests that used acetone peroxide as an explosive. French police reports on cellphones recovered from crime scenes showed that the attacks were being coordinated in real time from Brussels, Belgium, the location of origin of the terrorist cell to which the Paris attackers belonged.
Stade de France bombings
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. The explosions happened at 21:16, 21:19, and 21:53. At the time, the stadium was hosting an international friendly soccer match between France and Germany, which President Hollande was attending. The suicide bombers arrived slightly late for the game, two of them wearing Bayern-Munich tracksuits as disguises, and eyewitness reports indicated they did not have tickets, resulting in them being turned away by security guards several times.
The first explosion near the stadium occurred about 20 minutes after the start of the game. The first bomber, a man under the pseudonym 'Ahmad al-Mohammad', was prevented from entering the stadium after a security guard patted him down and found the explosive vest. A few seconds after being turned away, he detonated the vest outside the security gate, killing himself and a bystander. Investigators later surmised that the first bomber had planned to detonate his vest within the stadium, triggering the crowd's panicked exit onto the streets where the two other bombers were lying in wait. Three minutes after the first bombing, the second bomber, a man under the pseudonym 'M al-Mahmod', blew himself up outside another security gate after repeatedly failing to find and enter a crowd of people. Another 34 minutes after that, Bilal Hadfi's vest detonated outside a McDonald's restaurant. Moments before, a woman encountered him in an alley and he asked her for directions to the McDonald's. As the explosion happened, people were being evacuated out of the McDonald's restaurant. According to some reports, the location of the third explosion was at a McDonald's restaurant, where over 50 people were injured, seven seriously; others state the bomb detonated some distance away from any discernible target.
Hollande was evacuated from the stadium at half-time, while the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, remained at the stadium. Hollande met with his interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve to co-ordinate a response to the emergency. Two of the explosions were heard on the live televised broadcast of the match; both soccer coaches were informed by French officials of a developing crisis, but players and fans were kept unaware of it until the game had finished. Hollande, concerned that the safety of the crowd outside the stadium could not be assured if the match was immediately canceled, decided that the game should continue without a public announcement.
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. 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.
Restaurant shootings and bombing
The first shootings occurred around 21:24 on the rue Bichat and the rue Alibert, near the Canal Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement. The three Belgian-Moroccan attackers, including ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud who was driving, Brahim Abdeslam and Chakib Akrouh emerged from a rental SEAT León registration 1 GUT 180-B and began to open fire on nearby establishments. Abaaoud and Akrouh who were sat on the left side of the vehicle fired at the Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge. Brahim Abdeslam who was sat on the right side fired at the bar Le Carillon. According to French police, an eyewitness said one of the gunmen shouted "Allahu Akbar". Thirteen people were killed in total: Four people were killed at Le Carillon, Eight at Le Petit Cambodge, and one on the street nearby. Additionally, twenty-two people were injured, with ten victims in critical condition and twelve in serious condition. Approximately 130 rounds were fired; the three individuals fired 50, 24, and 56 rounds respectively. Afterwards, the assailants fled in the SEAT León. Doctors and nurses from the nearby Hôpital Saint-Louis were in Le Carillon when the attacks happened and supplied emergency assistance to the wounded.
After around 45 seconds of gunfire, they stepped back into their vehicle and drove away. They sped south down rue Bichat, turned right onto rue du Faubourg du Temple, and then left onto rue de la Fontaine au Roi before stopping the vehicle outside the brasserie La Bonne Bière. The drive lasted less than a minute.
At 21:26, the attackers arrived outside the brasserie La Bonne Bière, located close to the terrace of the Italian pizzeria La Casa Nostra, on the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi. Abaaoud and Akrouh remained inside the vehicle and shot at the terrace of La Bonne Bière from the windows at a very close range. At La Bonne Bière, the shooting lasted for 56 seconds. Brahim Abdeslam stepped outside the vehicle and walked 30 meters down the street to the pizzeria La Casa Nostra, and began firing at the establishment. He can be seen on CCTV footage, firing for 15 seconds, before his weapon jams as he attempts to shoot 2 women hiding under a table on the terrace. Eventually, Brahim Abdeslam stepped back into the vehicle, with Abaaoud having driven the car closer to La Casa Nostra to collect Abdeslam. Three people were killed at La Bonne Bière and two on the streets near La Casa Nostra. Miraculously, nobody was killed at the La Casa Nostra establishment itself. Additionally, nineteen people were injured, with 8 people in critical condition and 11 in serious condition. An eyewitness reported seeing a gunman firing short bursts. The 3 terrorists fired approximately 110 rounds; 56, 25, and 29 rounds respectively. The assailants then fled again in the SEAT León.
Within approximately 90 seconds of the start of the shooting at La Bonne Bière, the assailants drove off in their vehicle. This time, they drove more slowly, abiding by traffic laws, as they searched for targets. They drove down rue de la Fontaine au Roi before turning right onto Avenue Parmentier in the 11th Arrondissement. They drove down Avenue Parmentier to Place Léon Blum where they turned onto Boulevard Voltaire. There, they drove down the street before turning right to rue de Charonne and looked for targets. Eventually, they spotted their target, the restaurant La Belle Équipe, and they made a U-turn at the intersection between rue de Charonne and rue Charrière in front of the restaurant Le Petit Baïona, and drove up to La Belle Équipe before stopping the vehicle.
At 21:36, the assailants arrived at the restaurant La Belle Équipe on the rue de Charonne in the 11th arrondissement. They fired for several minutes at the outdoor terrace, much longer than the other shootings, likely trying to expend the rest of their ammunition. After firing for approximately two minutes, one gunman expended an entire magazine on full-auto before the assailants fled in their vehicle.
By the time the operation ended at 00:46, nineteen people were killed and seventeen people were injured. Of the injured, twelve were in critical condition and five in serious condition. A further two people died in hospital, bringing the death toll to twenty-one. At La Belle Équipe, Hodda Saadi was celebrating her 35th birthday, and was killed. Her sister, and nine others attending her birthday, were also killed. The 3 terrorists fired 164 rounds; 55, 37, and 72 rounds respectively.
The shooting at La Belle Équipe was caught extensively on film; A ride-share driver named Ahmed captured dashcam footage of the attack, with automatic gunfire audible on the footage. A resident on Rue Godefroy-Cavaignac recorded the latter part of the attack on a smartphone, while Jean-Luc Wertenschlag took two photographs from his apartment near its end.
At 21:40, Brahim Abdeslam was dropped off at the boulevard Voltaire in the 11th arrondissement, near the place de la Nation. He sat down at the interior terrace of the Comptoir Voltaire café, wearing a hooded jacket over several layers of clothing. After placing an order, he smiled at patrons and apologised for interrupting their dinner. Finally, he detonated his explosive vest, killing himself and injuring fifteen people, one of them seriously.
Bataclan theatre massacre
Beginning at around 21:50, a mass shooting and hostage-taking occurred at the Bataclan theatre on the boulevard Voltaire in the 11th arrondissement. The American rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing to an audience of about 1,500 people.