Prosecutor: Death toll in Paris attacks hits 129; 352 hurt
PARIS, France -- Three teams of extremists carried out the coordinated gun-and-suicide bombing attacks across Paris that left 129 people dead and 352 injured, a French prosecutor said Saturday.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said 99 of the injured were in critical condition after the "act of barbarism." He said the attackers in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people died, mentioned Syria and Iraq during their deadly rampage.
French President Francois Hollande has vowed that France will wage "merciless" war on the Islamic State group, after the jihadists claimed responsibility for the attacks Friday night.
Grief, alarm and resolve spread across Europe on Saturday as officials raced to piece together information on the seven attackers. Officials said one was a young Frenchman known to the authorities. In addition, a Syrian passport found near the body of another attacker was linked to a man who entered the European Union through a Greek island last month.
Attackers launched gun attacks at Paris cafes, detonated suicide bombs near France's national stadium and killed hostages inside a concert hall during a rock show - an attack on the heart of the pulsing City of Light.
"These places are the places we visit every week," said Ahsan Naeem, a 39-year-old filmmaker who has lived in Paris for seven years. "Streets we walk every day ... All those places will have been full of my people. My friends. My acquaintances."
Hollande, who declared three days of national mourning and raised the nation's security to its highest level, called the carnage "an act of war that was prepared, organized, planned from abroad with internal help."
The president said France would increase its military efforts to crush IS. He said France - which is part of a U.S.-led coalition bombing suspected IS targets in Syria and Iraq and also has troops fighting militants in Africa - "will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group."
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility in an online statement in Arabic and French circulated by supporters. It was not immediately possible to confirm the authenticity of the admission, which bore the group's logo and resembled previous verified statements from the group.
The statement mocked France's involvement in air attacks on suspected IS bases in Syria and Iraq, noting that France's air power was "of no use to them in the streets and rotten alleys of Paris."
Many of Paris's top tourist attractions closed down Saturday, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum and the Disneyland theme park east of the capital. Some 3,000 troops were deployed to help restore order and reassure a frightened populace.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that all public demonstrations would be banned until Thursday and local governments would have the option to impose nightly curfews.
The attacks, on an unusually balmy November Friday evening, struck at the heart of Parisian life: diners in cafes, concertgoers watching a rock band, spectators at a soccer match.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the places attacked are ones Parisians love - and ones where they celebrate diversity.
"It is this Paris that was hit. Probably because this example of living together, which is so strong in our city, is unbearable for fanatical people," she said.
Parisians expressed shock, disgust and defiance in equal measure. Some areas were quiet, but hundreds queued outside a hospital near the Bataclan concert hall to donate blood. As a shrine of flowers expanded along the sidewalk, a lone guitarist sang John Lennon's peace ballad "Imagine."
Authorities said eight attackers died, seven in suicide bombings, a new terror tactic in France. Police said they shot and killed the other assailant.
Molins, the prosecutor, said all the suicide attackers wore identical explosives vests.
Authorities in Belgium conducted raids in a Brussels neighborhood Saturday and made three arrests linked to the Paris attacks. Justice Minister Koen Geens told the VRT network that the arrests came after a car with Belgian license plates was seen close to the Bataclan theater.
Officials in Greece said the Syrian passport found in Paris had shown its owner entering in October through Leros, one of the islands that tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in Syria and elsewhere have been using as a gateway into the European Union.
If the attack does involve militants who traveled to Europe amid millions of refugees from the Middle East, the implications could be profound.
Poland's prospective minister for European affairs, Konrad Szymanski, said that in light of the attacks, Poland would not comply with an EU plan to accept refugees unless it received "guarantees of security."
The attack brought an immediate tightening of borders as Hollande declared a state of emergency and announced renewed border checks. Germany also stepped up border checks.
The militants launched six gun and bomb attacks in rapid succession on apparently indiscriminate civilian targets.
Three suicide bombs targeted spots around the national Stade de France stadium, in the north of the capital, where Hollande was watching a France-Germany soccer match. Fans inside the stadium recoiled at the sound of explosions, but the match continued.
Around the same time, fusillades of bullets shattered the clinking of wine glasses in a trendy Paris neighborhood as gunmen targeted a string of crowded cafes.
The attackers next stormed the Bataclan concert hall, which was hosting the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. They opened fire on the panicked audience and took members hostage. As police closed in, three detonated explosive belts, killing themselves, according to Paris police chief Michel Cadot.
Another attacker detonated a suicide bomb on Boulevard Voltaire, near the music hall, the prosecutor's office said.
Video shot posted by newspaper Le Monde Saturday captured some of that horror as dozens of people fled from gunfire outside the Bataclan.
At least one person lies writhing on the ground as scores more stream past, some bloodied or limping. The camera pans down the street to reveal more fleeing people dragging two bodies along the ground. A woman and two others can be seen clinging to upper-floor balcony railings in an desperate bid to stay out of the line of fire.
Le Monde said its reporter Daniel Psenney filed the scene from his apartment balcony, and was shot in the arm when he went downstairs to help someone who had collapsed.
A tall, sturdy 38-year-old concert-goer named Sylvain collapsed in tears as he recounted the attack, the chaos and his escape during a lull in gunfire.
"First I heard explosions, and I thought it was firecrackers," he said.
"Very soon I smelled powder, and I understood what was happening. There were shots everywhere, in waves. I lay down on the floor. I saw at least two shooters, but I heard others talk. They cried, 'It's Hollande's fault.' I heard one of the shooters shout, 'Allahu Akbar,'" Sylvain told The Associated Press.
He spoke on condition that his full name not be used out of concern for his safety.
The Paris carnage was the worst in a series of attacks claimed by the Islamic State in the past three days. On Thursday, twin suicide bombings in Beirut killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200, and 26 people died Friday in Baghdad in a suicide blast and a roadside bombing that targeted Shiites.
The militant group also said it bombed a Russian plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, killing 224 people.
IS also suffered significant reversals this week, with Kurdish forces launching an offensive to retake the strategic Iraqi city of Sinjar and the U.S. military saying it had likely killed Mohammed Emwazi, the masked British-accented militant known as "Jihadi John" who is seen in grisly IS beheading videos.
France has been on edge since January, when Islamic extremists attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had run cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and a kosher grocery. Twenty people died in those attacks, including three shooters.
French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who have traveled to Syria and returned home with skills to mount attacks.
"The big question on everyone's mind is: Were these attackers - if they turn out to be connected to one of the groups in Syria - were they homegrown terrorists or were they returning fighters?" said Brian Michael Jenkins, a terrorism expert.
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The latest on shootings and explosions in Paris. (All times local):
11 p.m.
A crowd of up to 250 people have gathered for an impromptu candlelight vigil at the Place de La Republique in Paris, the site of a massive demonstration in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings earlier this year.
Adrien Chambel, a 27-year-old law student, says the crowd is much sparser than it was in January. He says "you feel that people are petrified."
His father, Bernard, 66, said there is a difference between the attacks Friday night that killed 129 people and the January assault on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a Kosher supermarket that killed 17 victims.
He says in January "it was an attack on Jews, it was an attack on free expression."
This, he said, "was an attack on a way of life - they shot without discrimination."
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10:25 p.m.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is vowing to "destroy" those behind the rampage across Paris that killed at least 129 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Speaking late Saturday on French television TF1, Valls declared "we are at war, and because we are at war we are taking exceptional measures."
France has put thousands of soldiers onto the streets to reinforce police and other security personal in the wake of the country's worst-ever terror attack.
Valls says "we will strike this enemy to destroy him. In France and in Europe, we'll chase the authors of this act, and also in Syria and Iraq. We will win this war."
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10:10 p.m.
Outside the gate to the French Embassy in Washington, people left dozens of bouquets, signs of support and even a few bottles of wine.
"We love France," read one sign on Saturday. "Pray for France," read another. Two Secret Service vehicles were parked outside as people came by to drop off more flowers and wine at the makeshift memorial.
Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic, a Frenchwoman who has lived in the United States for 30 years, brought a bouquet of flowers in red, white and blue.
She says "we need to stand up for what we believe, and I hope that people will continue to assemble, not to fear."
Darya Vakulenko, a 26-year-old from Ukraine, came by with flowers to show "solidarity."
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10 p.m.
A terrorism-themed movie called "Made in France" that was to hit screens in France on Nov. 18 has been postponed.
The bold posters - which feature a giant Kalashnikov on top of the Eiffel Tower - feature prominently in the Paris Metro and have caused some passers-by discomfort. The famed monument has closed in the wake of Friday's coordinated attacks in which some used automatic guns to kill at least 129 people.
Producers did not say if the film has been postponed indefinitely. The movie, directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, tells the story of a journalist who infiltrates a jihadi cell in the Paris suburbs that plans attacks on the French capital.
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9:40 p.m.
Albania says its interior minister has been threatened by those allegedly supporting the Islamic State group.
Minister Saimir Tahiri received an email message Saturday in Albanian saying "Now it's your turn! The sacred war against those included in the war against the Islamic State has started!"
His office says Albania's anti-terror department has launched a probe into the matter. The government has increased security, especially near Western embassies and international institutions.
Albania's 3.2 million people are predominantly Muslims who live in peaceful coexistence with Christian communities.
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9:25 p.m.
A minute of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks was held ahead of the European Championship qualifier between Sweden and Denmark.
Both teams stood with their heads bowed Saturday as 50,000 fans inside Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden, turned silent. The walls of the stadium were lit up in the colors of the French flag: blue, white and red.
Organizers said security was stepped up at the stadium due to the bloodshed in Paris, which started with explosions outside the Stade de France during a friendly match between France and Germany.
In Rome, officials turned off the lights at the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain for five minutes in solidarity with the people of Paris.
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9:10 p.m.
Muslim leaders in the United States are condemning the attacks In Paris and offering condolences and prayers for the people of France.
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said "we are revolted by this heinous and despicable attack on civilian populations."
He says the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed at least 129, "does not represent Muslims."
Oussama Jammal of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations called on the American Muslim community to hold candlelight vigils to remember the victims.
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Muslim Alliance in North America called on Muslims to "redouble our efforts in vigilance and confronting extremism."
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8:40 p.m.
An employee at Greece's Ministry of Citizen Protection says Greek police have sent the fingerprints of the owner of the Syrian passport found at one of Friday's attacks in Paris to French police.
Police are trying to see if they match those of the assailant whose body was found nearby - or any other person known to police. The agency said the person who owned the passport came into the European Union through the Greek island of Leros on Oct. 3.
The same source, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to comment on an investigation, discounted reports in Greek media that a second passport was found at the scene.
At least 129 people were killed and 352 injured in the attacks Friday night in Paris. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility
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8:25 p.m.
Asylum-seekers fleeing war and poverty in Syria and other war-ravaged countries are condemning the Paris attacks, fearing it may become even more difficult now to start new lives in Western Europe.
The migrants streaming through Slovenia toward Austria, Germany and other wealthy EU nations said Saturday the attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people resemble the wars they are running away from.
Zebar Akram, 29, from Iraq, says "this is the same act of terrorism like they act in Syria or Iraq." Abdul Selam, 31, from Syria fears that refugees now "will be considered as probable attackers."
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8:10 p.m.
An American woman was undergoing surgery late Saturday at a Paris hospital after being wounded in a terror attack in France.
Helen Jane Wilson was at the Bataclan concert hall to hear the Eagles of Death Metal band perform Friday night when gunmen burst into the venue, killing 89 people. Wilson told The Associated Press she was shot in the leg and was heading into surgery at L'hopital Saint-Antoine.
Wilson said she lived in New Orleans before moving to Paris, where she runs Rock en Bol, a catering company. According to her Facebook page, Wilson is originally from Los Angeles.
At least 129 people were killed and 352 injured in the attacks Friday night in Paris. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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7:40 p.m.
Belgium's federal prosecutor's office says authorities have so far made three arrests linked to the deadly attacks in Paris.
Spokesman Jean-Pascal Thoreau says the arrests at the Belgian border came after a car with Belgian license plates was seen close to the Bataclan theater in Paris on Friday night, one of the places where victims were killed.
He said it was a rental vehicle and police organized several raids in the St. Jans Molenbeek neighborhood in Brussels on Saturday.
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7:35 p.m.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins says one of the hostage takers involved in a deadly siege at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris was born in France. He also says a French national was among three people linked to the Paris attacks arrested Saturday morning at the Belgian border.
Molins said a different suicide attacker identified by a Syrian passport found near his body at the national stadium was not known to French intelligence services.
He said all seven suicide attackers wore identical explosives vests.
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7:25 p.m.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins says three teams of attackers seem to have coordinated attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead another 352 injured.
Molins says the attackers in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people died, metioned Syria and Iraq during the attacks.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the gun and bomb rampage that also targeted restaurants and a soccer stadium.
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7:15 p.m.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins says 129 people were killed in the Paris terror attacks and 352 people were injured.
He says 99 of the injured are in critical condition.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks Friday night around Paris.
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7:05 p.m.
The Eiffel Tower will remain dark Saturday night in a display of mourning following the terror attacks that left 127 dead and wounded scores more.
The 116-year-old iconic monument normally is lit by scintillating lights every hour on the hour during the evening.
In contrast, Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate has been lit up in the colors of the French flag - blue, white and red - in tribute to the Paris victims. Hundreds of people gathered Saturday on Paris Square, in front of the gate, in a show of solidarity with France.
Flowers and candles have also been placed in front of the nearby French embassy in the German capital.
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6:55 p.m.
England's Sussex Police force says it is questioning a 41-year-old man from France after "what appears to be a firearm" was discovered at Gatwick Airport.
The airport's north terminal was evacuated and explosives experts called in Saturday morning after what police called suspicious actions by a man who had discarded an item.
Police said the man had been arrested on suspicion of firearms offenses. The airport said the terminal was searched before reopening just before 4 p.m. Gatwick is Britain's second busiest airport.
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6:50 p.m.
Interpol says it has set up a "crisis response task force" at its headquarters in southeastern France following deadly attacks in Paris.
Interpol Secretary-General Juergen Stock has condemned the "cold-blooded, cowardly attacks" that left 127 people dead Friday night.
The Lyon, France-based international police agency noted its fingerprint, name and DNA databases and border security capabilities to help track foreign terrorist
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6:45 p.m.
Germany's top security official says the country has ramped up border controls with France after the Paris terror attacks.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin that the move follows a request from France to all of its neighbors to increase controls along their common borders.
De Maiziere said the checks would take place on road, rail and plane connections with France.
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6:35 p.m.
Germany's vice-chancellor has warned against a crackdown on migrants coming to Europe because of the deadly Paris terror attacks.
Sigmar Gabriel says those seeking refuge in Europe shouldn't be made to suffer just because "they come from those regions where terror is being exported to us and to the world."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy's told reporters in Berlin on Saturday that "we stand to protect them too, and to ensure that they don't have to suffer because murderers in France are threatening people and Europe in the name of a religion."
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6:20 p.m.
In light of the Paris terror attacks, Poland cannot go ahead with EU decisions on immigration and accept refugees without guarantees of security.
Konrad Szymanski, Poland's prospective minister for European affairs, told reporters that Poland "this is a key condition that today was put under a giant question mark in all of Europe."
Szymanski is in Poland's new conservative government that is to be sworn in Monday. The outgoing government agreed to accept 7,000 refugees from Syria and Eritrea over the next two years.
In comments online, Szymanski said Poland must have "full control" of its borders and migration policy.
One of the Paris attackers reportedly came into the EU through Greece last month.
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6:05 p.m.
The leaders of the European Union nations are calling for a minute of silence across the 28-nation bloc on Monday in memory of the victims of the Paris terror attacks.
In Saturday's joint statement, the leaders say Europeans will always remember Friday, Nov. 13, "as a European day of mourning" and invited the EU's 510 million people to mark their solidarity at noon Monday.
"This shameful act of terrorism will only achieve the opposite of its purpose, which was to divide, frighten, and sow hatred," they said. "Good is stronger than evil. Everything that can be done at European level to make France safe will be done."
They called Friday's events "an attack against us all." At least 127 people were killed and scores injured in the attacks Friday night. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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6 p.m.
Belgium's justice minister says authorities have made several arrests linked to the deadly attacks in Paris.
Minister Koen Geens told the VRT network that the arrests came after a car with Belgian license plates was seen close to the Bataclan theater in Paris on Friday night, one of the places where victims were killed.
He said it was a rental vehicle and police organized several raids in the St. Jans Molenbeek neighborhood in Brussels on Saturday.
Geens said "there were arrests relating to the search of the vehicle and person who rented it." He said the number of arrests was "more than one."
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5:35 p.m.
Belgian media are reporting police searches and at least one arrest connected to the Paris attacks in the St. Jans Molenbeek neighborhood in Brussels.
RTBF broadcasting said its reporters observed heavily armed police teams in the western district of Belgium's capital on Saturday afternoon and that two or three searches had taken place. It said a man was arrested.
No official confirmation or additional information was immediately available. Molenbeek is home to a large community of immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.
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5:30 p.m.
London's Police chief says authorities will review their approach to a firearms attack following the tragic attacks in France and will put high-visibility patrols at key locations across the capital.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe says the "scale of the attacks and the range of weaponry used by the terrorists are a serious cause for concern."
However, Britain has refrained from raising its security level from "severe," where it has stood since summer 2014, which means an attack is considered highly likely.
Hogan-Howe said in a statement Saturday that police are currently working on hundreds of active investigations and making an arrest a day on average.
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5:20 p.m.
A Greek official says the owner of a Syrian passport found at the scene of one of the Paris attacks crossed into the European Union through the Greek island of Leros in October.
Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas, in charge of police forces, has released the following statement: "On the case of the Syrian passport found at the scene of the terrorist attack.
"We announce that the passport holder had passed from Leros on Oct. 3., where he was identified based on EU rules... We do not know if the passport was checked by other countries through which the holder likely passed.
"We will continue the painstaking and persistent effort to ensure the security of our country and Europe under difficult circumstances, insisting on complete identification of those arriving."
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5:10 p.m.
The Foo Fighters are canceling the rest of their European tour following the deadly attacks in Paris.
The band said in a statement Saturday that "it is with profound sadness and heartfelt concern for everyone in Paris that we have been forced to announce the cancellation of the rest of our tour."
Foo Fighters, led by Dave Grohl, were to play at the Accor Hotels Arena in Paris on Monday and in Casalecchio Di Reno, Italy, on Friday; other canceled shows include stops in Turin, Italy; Lyon, France; and Barcelona, Spain.
"In light of this senseless violence, the closing of borders, and international mourning, we can't continue right now. There is no other way to say it," the statement read. "This is crazy and it sucks. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt or who lost a loved one."
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5:05 p.m.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says crucial U.N. conference on fighting climate change will be held in Paris as planned, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
Fabius says the conference "will be held with enhanced security measures, but this is an absolutely indispensable action against climate change." He spoke as foreign ministers met in Vienna to discuss the war in Syria.
So far 127 world leaders have accepted the invitation to come to Paris for the climate conference.
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5 p.m.
An Air France flight from Amsterdam to Paris has been evacuated at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after authorities received a threatening tweet.
Dennis Muller, a Dutch military police spokesman, says Air France flight 1741 was due to take off at 14:45 CET but was evacuated shortly before that.
An Air France spokeswoman said the flight had 85 passengers and six crew members onboard. Police are searching the Airbus A320 now.
Authorities on are alert after at least 127 people died Friday night in gun and bomb attacks in Paris. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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4:50 p.m.
Witness Ludovic Mintchov, 20, says he was walking down Boulevard Richard Lenoire in Paris on Friday night when he saw a black, German-made sedan barrel down the street and screech to a halt about 50 meters (yards) in front of him.
He says two men emerged from the car with Kalashnikovs before opening fire, striking two people cycling on rental bikes. When they collapsed, Mintchov told reporters he made a run for it.
He said the shooting occurred around 10:15-10:20 p.m.
At least 127 people died Friday night in shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's stadium and a massacre inside a concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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4:40 p.m.
Social media is awash with public buildings lit up in the French colors of red, white as people globally expressed their solidarity with the French after deadly terror attacks in Paris.
Users of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram shared vacation photos, teardrops and a peace symbol with the Eiffel Tower as its center as they shared their grief over the tragedy.
People posted the poignant video of the Eiffel Tower - the beacon of the city of light - going to black in memory of the dead. They also offered montages of the hues of the Tricolor, the French flag, on to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and One World Trade Center in New York.
The images and sentiment, shared under hashtags #prayforparis or #parisattacks, mirrored the outpouring of emotion that followed the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in January.
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4:35 p.m.
London's Tower Bridge will be illuminated in the colors of France's flag as the city joins other capitals in lighting landmarks to show solidarity with the 127 victims of the terror attacks in Paris.
A fireworks display set for Saturday night was also cancelled as a mark of respect for the French. The City of London Corporation, which is organizing the display, says it is "time for a show of solidarity with the victims of an atrocious terrorist attack and not a time for celebrations."
Flags at several prominent structures in London, including the Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street, flew flags at half-staff. Flowers and candles were also placed at the French Embassy.
Sydney, New York and Rio de Janeiro have also illuminated buildings in the red, white and blue of the Tricolor.
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4:25 p.m.
Bryan Clement, a 19-year-old student in Nancy, was one of dozens of people posting have-you-seen-me? photos of friends and family missing since the Paris attacks.
Clement said the posts were similar to the posters, flyers and photos plastered around New York in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 but "now it's digital." He says "now everyone can help with the search."
At least 127 people died Friday night in shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's stadium and a massacre inside a concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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4:15 p.m.
Leading French movie theater chains are shutting their Paris cinemas after attacks on a concert hall, stadium and cafes that left at least 127 people dead.
The UGC and Gaumont Pathe chains said in tweets that they would close their Paris movie theaters for a day Saturday after the bloodshed Friday night in the French capital.
Several entertainment and cultural sites in Paris have also closed their doors Saturday, including Disneyland Paris, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum.
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4:10 p.m.
In addition to rallying the nation after the shocking terror attack on Paris, French President Francois Hollande has been on the phone talking about fighting terror with other world leaders.
Those include the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is hosting the G-20 summit on Sunday. Erdogan assured the French president that the Paris attacks that killed 127 people Friday night will be a "top priority" on the G-20 agenda.
Hollande also spoke on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, King of Morocco Mohammed VI, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, European Council President Donald Tusk, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
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3:50 p.m.
Two French police officials say that authorities have identified one of the suicide bombers who targeted Paris in deadly attacks as a young Frenchman flagged in the past for links with an Islamic extremist activity.
The officials said the man was among attackers who blew himself up after a rampage and hostage-taking in a Paris concert hall.
Earlier, police officials said at least one suicide bombers who targeted another site, France's national stadium, was found to have a Syrian passport.
None of the attackers has been publicly identified.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named.
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3:35 p.m.
A State Department spokesman confirms that Americans are among the injured in the Paris terror attacks.
The department's deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, says Saturday that "the U.S. Embassy in Paris is working around the clock to assist American citizens affected by this tragedy." He would not comment if any were killed.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, considered the deadliest on France since World War II. At least 127 people died Friday night in shootings at cafes, suicide bombings near France's stadium and a massacre inside a concert hall.
French President Francois Holland has declared three days of mourning and raised the nation's security to the highest level.
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3:25 p.m.
Syrian President Bashar Assad says the policies of some Western countries - including France - in the Middle East are partly responsible for the expansion of terrorism.
He urged French President Francois Hollande to change his policies and "work for the interest of the French people." He criticized Hollande for ignoring that some of his allies support "terrorists" in Syria - a phrase he uses for all armed factions in Syria.
Assad says his country warned three years ago what would happen in Europe if the West continued to support "terrorists" in his country. He spoke Saturday as he met with French lawmakers in Damascus.
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3:10 p.m.
Pope Francis has often framed the upsurge in violence around the globe in terms of a "third World War" being waged piecemeal through crimes, massacres, religious persecution and the destruction of cultural sites.
On Saturday, he told the Italian Bishops Conference TV2000 that the attacks in Paris were "part" of that, adding "there are no justifications for these things."
At least 127 people died in Friday night's rampage in Paris. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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3 p.m.
Ahsan Naeem, a Paris resident for years, says he and his friends - one of whom was hit by "bullet shrapnel" inside the Bataclan club __ were still in shock after the deadly attacks that rocked Paris.
Naeem, a 39-year-old filmmaker, says "these places are the places we visit every week ... streets we walk every day. I've seen dozens of gigs at the Bataclan. Eaten at the Petit Cambodge. Sat outside Le Carillon on so many nights."
Eric Berliet, a 20-year-old student, was consumed with worry over a family friend, also 20, who was shot three times and is now "at death's door" at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris. He says "there's sadness and anger like never before" among his friends.
He says they often go to Bataclan and nearby venues and he has a ticket at one for next week. He says "I have no idea whether I'll go now."
At least 127 people died in Friday night's rampage of shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's national stadium and a slaughter inside a concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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2:50 p.m.
French authorities have closed the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum and other top tourist sites in Paris until further notice following deadly terror attacks.
A Louvre spokeswoman said the museum opened as normal Saturday with enhanced security, but was ordered closed by the Culture Ministry after President Francois Hollande called for national day of mourning. Isabelle Esnous, a spokeswoman for the Eiffel Tower, said the monument did not open as a security precaution.
The Culture Ministry said "public cultural sites" were closed in the Paris region Saturday, without specifying.
At least 127 people died in Friday night's rampage of shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's national stadium and a slaughter inside a concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.
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2:40 p.m.
The governor of Bavaria says the arrest of a man in Germany last week may be linked to the Paris attacks.
A spokesman for Bavarian state police spokesman confirmed that firearms, explosives and hand grenades were found when undercover police stopped a man near the German-Austrian border on Nov. 5.
Ludwig Waldinger declined to confirm reports by public broadcaster Bayrischer Rundfunk that the man appeared to be en route to Paris when he was arrested.
Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer told reporters Saturday there were "reasonable grounds" to assume that there may be a link to the Paris attacks.
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2:30 p.m.
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven says a Swedish citizen was killed in the Paris attacks, and there are unconfirmed reports of a Swede wounded by gunfire.
Lofven said Saturday "We have been in contact with the next of kin. They should of course know that the whole of the Swedish people and my sympathy is with them, our hearts are with you."
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2:20 p.m.
The Muslim Council of Britain has condemned the horrific attacks in Paris and offered thoughts and prayers for the families of those killed.
The council offered its sympathies to the "people of France, our neighbors" in a short statement Saturday.
The council says that while the Islamic State group is claiming responsibility for the attack, "there is nothing Islamic about such people and their actions are evil, and outside the boundaries set by our faith."
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2:15 p.m.
A member of Bavaria's regional government has called for better border controls in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Bavaria's Finance Minister Markus Soeder told weekly Welt am Sonntag that Germany needs to know who is entering the country.
The newspaper quoted Soeder as saying that "the days of unchecked immigration and illegal entry can't continue. Paris changes everything."
Bavaria has been the main point of entry for hundreds of thousands of migrants coming to Germany this year.
Soeder is a member of the conservative sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
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2:10 p.m.
Parisians desperate to get in touch with family and friends missing since Friday's coordinated attacks in Paris are taking to social media under the hashtag #rechercheparis - "Paris Search" in English - posting heartfelt messages and photos.
Scores of people that attended the six sites targeted in the attacks in which at least 127 people died are still unaccounted for.
One post reads: "Waleed is missing. We last contacted him at the match, Please share & contact me if u have any info. #rechercheParis".
Another: "I've been looking for my cousin since last night... He's 25 and 1m75. He's called Younes. #rechercheParis "
The photos and messages are garnering hundreds of retweets - from users eager to help in the search for survivors.
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2:10 p.m.
British police say they've arrested a man and called in explosive specialists at Gatwick Airport amid heightened concerns following the terror attacks in Paris.
The North Terminal at Gatwick has been evacuated as police dealt with the incident Saturday.
Police say they were called at around 9.30 a.m. (GMT) after suspicious actions by the man, who had discarded an item.
Gatwick is Britain's second busiest airport.
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2:05 p.m.
France's interior minister has authorized local authorities to impose curfews if needed after the deadliest attacks in the country since World War II.
Bernard Cazeneuve said in a televised address Saturday that authorities are also banning all public demonstrations until Thursday.
Cazeneuve laid out increased security measures across the country, including thousands more troops and police and special protection for certain public buildings.
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1:55 p.m.
Russia's civil aviation authority is telling airlines and airports to tighten security in the wake of Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris. The national rail network also said it is taking extra security precautions.
Russia's nerves already were strained about security in the wake of the Oct. 31 fatal crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt, a disaster widely believed to have been a terrorist attack.
In Moscow, mourners were congregating outside the French Embassy to lay flowers and express condolences.
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1:50 p.m.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says his government is boosting border controls in response to the attacks in Paris.
Rutte told reporters in The Hague on Saturday that his administration will take "visible and invisible" measures to increase security. He declined to elaborate on what form the new tougher security would take.
Rutte says "violence and extremism will never triumph over freedom and humanity."
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1:45 p.m.
Hungary's prime minister says security measures will be tightened in light of the terror attacks in Paris and has declared Sunday as a national day of mourning.
Viktor Orban also said Saturday that a special congress of his Fidesz party to have been held Sunday to elect new leadership has been postponed.
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1:25 p.m.
Prime Minister David Cameron is warning his nation to brace for casualties from the attacks in Paris, but he has left the nation's terror alert warning unchanged.
The British leader says the country "must be prepared for a number of British casualties" from the Paris atrocity. He condemned the "brutal and callous murderers".
Cameron said Saturday that the terror threat level in the UK would remain at "severe," - the second-highest level - but that authorities would review plans amid an "evolving" threat from Islamic state.
In a message of solidarity to the people of France he said: "Your values are our values, your pain is our pain, your fight is our fight."
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1:15 p.m.
Parisians are lining up for hours to give blood, piling flowers and notes and spilling tears outside a music hall where scores of people were killed by rampaging suicide bombers who shattered the peace of the French capital.
Though deeply shaken, many residents of the hip neighborhood in eastern Paris tried Saturday to find a way to help the some 200 people wounded in a string of attacks Friday night on the concert hall, crowded cafes and a stadium.
Long lines of blood donors snaked out of the St. Louis Hospital near the site of the bloodshed.
Near the Bataclan concert hall, people who lost loved ones and those who didn't came to pay their respects. The attackers stormed the Bataclan during a concert by American band Eagles of Death Metal.
"For the angels of rock 'n' roll," read one note.
"For all the friends that I knew, and those I didn't know. For life," read another.
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1:10 p.m.
Italy's top security official says security has been heightened in the country and along its borders, especially with France, following the attacks in Paris.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters after meeting with Premier Matteo Renzi and other top security and intelligence officials that the country had raised its alert level to the second highest, allowing for rapid deployment of special forces if necessary.
Alfano says no country is free from risk and that "a great democracy like Italy needs to be ready for any event."
Alfano says 700 soldiers were being deployed immediately to Rome as a deterrent. And he sats additional security measures will be taken into consideration for the upcoming Jubilee year declared by Pope Francis that is expected to bring millions to Rome beginning Dec. 8.
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1:00 p.m.
Two French police officials say a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers who targeted France's national soccer stadium.
French President Francois Hollande said the Islamic State group orchestrated the attacks, and IS claimed responsibility.
The identities and nationalities of the attackers have not been released. At least 127 people were killed and about 200 wounded in the attacks.
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12:40 p.m.
The president of the International Olympic Committee says the terrorist attacks in Paris are "an attack on humanity and all humanitarian and Olympic values."
Thomas Bach adds in a statement: "Today all people of goodwill will say: We are all French."
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12:30 p.m.
A community leader from Paris' working-class suburbs says he fears a "tsunami of hatred" may await Muslims and residents of poor neighborhoods following the deadly terror attacks.
Nadir Kahia of the Banlieue Plus community association says its members are shocked and feel a sense of solidarity "but we know ... some Muslims and poor neighborhoods" will be subjected to hate speech.
Kahia also called Saturday for unity of French people and efforts to calm tensions in a text message to The Associated Press.
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12:20 p.m.
British police say the north terminal at Gatwick Airport is being evacuated as a precaution after authorities found a suspicious article.
Police described the evacuation Saturday as a precaution, but the incident comes at a time of heightened concern in Britain in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris. Police have announced additional security at ports and big events in light of the attacks.
Gatwick is Britain's second busiest airport.
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12:05 p.m.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed over 120 people.
The claim was made in a statement in Arabic and French released online Saturday and circulated by supporters of the group. It was not immediately possible to confirm the authenticity of the statement, but it bore the group's logo and resembled previous statements issued by the group.
French President Francois Hollande had earlier blamed the attacks on the IS group, calling it "an act of war" and vowing to strike back.
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11:50 a.m.
The German government has ordered flags on official buildings lowered to half-mast Saturday as a sign of solidarity and sorrow over the attacks in Paris.
Flowers, candles and messages of condolence have meanwhile been placed outside the French embassy in Berlin. A vigil was planned there early Saturday afternoon.
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11:35 a.m.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called a meeting of Spain's National Security Council to "analyze the situation in the wake of the Paris attacks."
Rajoy says: "We aren't facing a war of religions, but a battle between civilization and barbarism. They may hurt us, but they can't beat us."
Speaking Saturday during a special television appearance, Rajoy says Spain was on high alert and its forces had in the past few weeks stopped several terror attacks.
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11:20 a.m.
German media reported Saturday that a 51-year-old man arrested last week after weapons were discovered in his car has been linked to the Paris attacks.
A spokesman for Bavarian state police confirmed that firearms, explosives and hand grenades had been found when undercover police stopped the suspect near the German-Austrian border on Nov. 5.
Public broadcaster Bayrischer Rundfunk reported that documents found during the arrest indicated that the man was traveling to Paris. It reported that the arms, which it said included an automatic rifle and one kilogram of TNT, were professionally hidden inside the body of the car, a VW Golf.
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11:10 a.m.
French President Francois Hollande, speaking to the nation, said attacks Friday that killed 127 people were "an act of war."
He said the attacks on a stadium, concert hall and Paris cafe diners were "committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet."
He said France "will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group." France "will act by all means anywhere, inside or outside the country."
France is already bombing IS targets in Syria and Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition, and has troops fighting extremists in Africa.
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11 a.m.
French President Francois Hollande says that the Islamic State group orchestrated the worst attacks in France since World War II and vowed to strike back.
Hollande said after an emergency security meeting Saturday that the death toll has risen to 127 in a string of near-simultaneous attacks Friday night on a concert hall, stadium and Paris cafes.
He declared three days of national mourning and put the nation's security at its highest level.
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10:35 a.m.
A resident near Paris' Bataclan concert hall spoke of their shock and disbelief over the gun attack Friday night that left around 80 revelers dead.
Entrepreneur Gabriel Delattre, 31, was arriving home on a bike when he bumped into a nightmarish scene: a man whose shirt was "black with blood" wandering by the side of another man with a large bullet hole in his cheek.
"He was staring at me," Delattre said. "He was confused and mumbling and didn't know what he was doing. He just kept saying, 'We were attacked, we got down on the floor, and we managed to get out. But the others stayed trapped.'"
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9:40 a.m.
Disneyland Paris is closed to the public in a highly unusual move because of a string of attacks targeting a stadium, concert hall and cafes in Paris that killed at least 120.
The theme park east of Paris, one of Europe's leading tourist attractions, said in a statement that it decided not to open Saturday "in light of the recent tragic events in France and in support of our community and the victims of these horrendous attacks."
Some 14 million people visited Disneyland Paris last year.
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9:35 a.m.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel the attackers who killed more than 120 people in Paris overnight "hate freedom."
Speaking to reporters in Berlin early Saturday, Merkel expressed grief for those who died, saying "they wanted to live the life of free people in a city that celebrates life."
She says the victims encountered "murderers who hate precisely this life of freedom."
Merkel said her country stands ready to help France in whichever way it can.
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9:30 a.m.
French President Francois Hollande is meeting top government and security officials after suicide bombers targeted a stadium, concert hall and Friday night cafe crowds in attacks that killed at least 120.
The special meeting in the Elysee Palace on Saturday morning comes as police hunt for potential accomplices to eight attackers who were killed in Friday night's violence. Hollande declared a state of emergency - the first such move in a decade - and ordered 1,500 additional troops deployed.
The attacks raise concerns about international events that France is hosting, such as a UNESCO forum in Paris on Monday with world leaders, and major climate talks in Paris in two weeks.
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9:30 a.m.
Germany's foreign minister says his country stands by France after the attacks in Paris, which he described as an "inferno of terror."
Frank-Walter Steinmeier was present during the football friendly between France and Germany on Friday night, when three suicide bombs targeted spots around the national stadium.
Steinmeier said Saturday on the sidelines of the Syria talks in Vienna that "the extent of the horror ... exceeds everyone's imagination."
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9 a.m.
Some 1,500 extra soldiers have been mobilized to guard French facilities and schools and universities are closed because of the country's deadliest attacks in decades.
Many French schools are normally open on Saturdays, but the French government ordered them shuttered as part of emergency security measures.
Soldiers were deployed at key sites around Paris, including Parliament buildings and religious sites.
Soldiers were deployed at key sites around Paris, including Parliament buildings and religious sites.
