Local Editor

In the aftereffects of the series of terrorist attacks that hit the French capital of Paris, French President Francois Hollande, speaking from the Élysée Palace, described the incident as: "It is an act of war that was committed by a terrorist army against France."

Naming "ISIS" in particular, Hollande continued: "It is an act of war that was prepared, organized and planned from abroad, with complicity from the inside, which the investigation will help establish."

The attacks, carried out by eight gunmen and suicide bombers, targeted public facilities including restaurants, a concert hall and a football stadium.

French television reported that the attacks resulted in dozens of civilians killed, and nearly 200 others wounded, at least 80 of them in critical condition.

Some media sources reported that Hollande was among the spectators and was whisked to safety after the first explosion.

Stricken with shock and grief, Parisians rose Saturday to a state of national emergency, with public transportation hobbled and institutions: schools, museums, libraries, pools, food markets all closed.

In a related context, the public prosecutor in Paris, Francois Molins stated that: "We are going to try to determine what happened, determine what the profiles of these terrorists are, find out what their course of action was, and find out if there are still accomplices or co-attackers."

Hollande, who declared three days of national mourning, raised the security threat level to its highest point and vowed to wage a merciless fight against terrorists.

He further said that on his orders the government had "mobilized all the forces we can muster to neutralize the threats and secure all of the areas." Hollande also said that "France will be unbreakable in the face of the terrorist attacks."

Nonetheless, he did not specify what intelligence the authorities had gathered to establish "ISIS" involvement.

On its part, the terrorist organization on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement released by one of its publications and distributed on Twitter, a claim that could not be independently verified.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team