Terror in Paris: Scores dead in series of violent, horrifying attacks in the City of Light

Tonight, the world mourns for Paris

Elite police officers arrive to the Bataclan concert venue after the deadly attacks in Paris.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

"There are lots of dead people. It's pretty horrific to be honest."

"I was at the back of the bar. I couldn't see anything. I heard gunshots. People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us... We were held up in the bar because there was a pile of bodies in front of us."

That's the testimony given to The Guardian by just one witness to Friday night's horrific terrorist attacks in Paris.

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The French capital was rocked by at least six attacks across the city, with CNN, as of Saturday morning, reporting at least 128 dead. French President François Hollande called the events "unprecedented terrorist attacks." Fox News reports Friday was the deadliest day in France since World War II.

The violence reportedly began Friday evening, when a gunman armed with an AK-47 stormed a restaurant in the French capital, where police say 11 were killed. Meanwhile, explosions were heard outside the Stade de France stadium, where the French national team was playing a friendly football match against Germany. President Hollande was at the stadium when the detonations were heard and was quickly evacuated, after which he declared a state of emergency and announced the country was closing its borders, which Business Insider notes hadn't been done since the Algerian War. French police confirmed two of the explosions were suicide bombings, and amateur video has emerged from the ground, though the footage is unconfirmed.

Across the city, a hostage situation unfolded at the Bataclan concert hall, where Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman told CNN that at least 118 people were killed. Gunmen reportedly entered the venue and began shooting and detonating explosives, and later witnesses inside the venue were apparently texting friends and posting on social media that they were being executed one by one. Police raided the concert hall and killed at least two attackers, ending the hostage standoff.

With the country's borders closed, the hope is to keep any potential culprits from leaving France. French President Hollande has announced 1,500 extra soldiers will be deployed to Paris, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged Great Britain's support and President Obama called the incidents "an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share."

There is lingering concern in Paris that the violence is only over for the night and could resume this weekend.

In January, the French capital was rocked by attacks that left 12 employees of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo dead; one of the perpetrators of that massacre posthumously claimed allegiance to ISIS.

No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks.

Update 7:25 a.m. Saturday: Hollande called the attacks an "act of war" by ISIS on Saturday morning. After the president spoke, a group purporting to be ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement, The Washington Post reports. CNN is now reporting the death toll at 128.

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.