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At least 129 dead, 352 injured — at least 99 critically — following series of attacks in Paris on Friday night, according to Paris prosecutor.

President Francois Hollande calls the attacks — France’s deadliest violence since WWII — an "act of war."

Islamic State claims responsibility, warns that "this attack is just the start of a storm."

Three separate "teams" were involved in the attacks, according to the prosecutor. Seven attackers are dead, one was a French national known to police as an Islamist extremist.

The North Terminal of Gatwick Airport in England was evacuated on Saturday; reported French man with two guns arrested.

Several suspects arrested after a raid in Brussels on Saturday afternoon.

We’ll be updating this post as the day goes on. Check back or click here to refresh for updates.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesFrench newspapers are on display at a kiosk after a terrorist attack on November 14, 2015 in Paris, France.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility on Saturday for attacks. In an official statement the group said its fighters strapped with suicide bombing belts and carrying machine guns carried out the attacks in various locations in the heart of the capital which were carefully studied. One of the attackers was a French national and a known Islamist extremist, according to AP. ccording to a statement in French translated by The Guardian, Islamic State says that "France and those who follow its path must know that they remain the principle targets of the Islamic State." It continues:

…having dared insult our Prophet, having bragged about fighting Islam in France and striking Muslims in the Caliphate with their planes which have not helped them in any way in the ill-smelling streets of Paris.

This attack is just the start of a storm and a warning for those who wish to draw lessons.

The BBC reports that 1,500 soldiers have been mobilised in Paris today. Public buildings including schools, universities, libraries, and museums are closed in the city, and sporting fixtures in the area have been called off. Hollande also took the unprecedented step of temporarily closing the company’s borders, and has declared a State of Emergency.

The Eiffel Tower will be closed until further notice.

AFP reports that 300 people have been injured — 80 critically.

Dina Spector/BIPolice barriers and press near the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, the site of one of the attacks.

Here’s an early timeline of how the attacks took place. They were all closely coordinated.

Details on the attackers are starting to emerge

There are reports (via French newspaper Libération) that two passports have been found linked to two of the attackers. Additionally, one of them is reportedly a French national, as identified by their fingerprints.

An international chorus of condemnation

The UN Security Council denounced the ‘barbaric and cowardly terrorist attacks," according to Al Arabiya. "The Security Council underlined the need to bring the perpetrators of these terrorist acts to justice," it said in a statement.

In the US, President Obama has called the attacks "an attack of all of humanity." Angela Merkel says she is "deeply shaken by the news and pictures that are reaching us from Paris."

"Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to our French cousins in this dark and terrible time," Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said.

The Vatican’s Rev. Federico Lombardi called the violence "an attack on peace for all humanity." He called for "a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread of homicidal hatred in all of its forms," according to The New York Times.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also condemned the attacks, saying that such acts of terror were similar to what his people had faced in years of violent civil war. "What France suffered from savage terror is what the Syrian people have been enduring for over five years," the Syrian President was quoted as saying on state media and Lebanese TV station al Mayadeen.

REUTERS/Christian HartmannFrench fire brigade members aid an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris, France, November 13, 2015.

Islamic State takes responsibility, and says there is more to come

The attackers used guns and bombs at several sites across Paris, including the Stade de France, and the Bataclan Theater, where a hostage situation saw more than 100 killed. Eight attackers have died — seven after killing themselves using explosive vests, according to Reuters — and the authorities are now searching for accomplices.

Eagles of Death Metal, the rock band playing at the Bataclan Theater at the time of the attack, are believed to be safe.

Reuters is reporting that ISIS has released a video threatening France, warning that "as long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear traveling to the market." The video is not dated.

Islamic State is also calling on would-be recruits to "operate within France":

Terrorise them and do not allow them to sleep due to fear and horror. There are weapons and cars available and targets ready to be hit. Even poison is available, so poison the water and food of at least one of the enemies of Allah. Kill them and spit in their faces and run them over with your cars. Do whatever you are able to do in order to humiliate them, for they deserve only this

(Photo by Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images)Le Carillon bar is seen the day after a deadly attack on November 14, 2015 in Paris, France. At least 120 people have been killed and over 200 injured, 80 of which seriously, following a series of terrorist attacks in the French capital.

France was already on high alert

The nation has been on high alert ever since the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015 killed 18 people.

Those attacks briefly united France in defense of freedom of speech, with a mass demonstration of more than a million people. But that unity has since broken down, with far-right populist Marine Le Pen gaining on both mainstream parties by blaming immigration and Islam for France’s security problems.

It was not clear what political impact the latest attacks would have less than a month before regional elections in which Le Pen’s National Front is set to make further advances.

The governing Socialist Party and the National Front suspended their election campaigns.

Hollande canceled plans to travel to Turkey at the weekend for a G20 summit.

Dina Spector/BIPolice near the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, the site of one of the attacks.

The mood on the ground

The atmosphere in Paris this morning is relatively calm and unpanicked, Business Insider UK editor Dina Spector reports. The Metro is still running, and people are still out and about and visiting cafés — although it is fairly quiet. One Parisian told us it feels "surprisingly calm."

Another local we spoke to, on her way to open her café said that the attackers "attacked the culture of Paris."

The Mayor of Paris has just arrived at Bataclan.

Dina Spector/BIFlowers and messages left by mourners at Avenue de la Republique in Paris.

 We’ll be updating this post as the day goes on. Check back or click here to refresh for updates.

 

Here’s how newspaper front pages across the world are covering the Paris attacks

• Pamela Engel

The terrorist group ISIS (also known as the Islamic State) has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are being described as France’s worst terror attack since WWII.

The attackers used guns and bombs at several sites across Paris, including the Stade de France stadium and the Bataclan Theater, where a hostage situation saw more than 100 killed. Eight attackers have died — seven after killing themselves using explosive vests, according to Reuters — and the authorities are now searching for accomplices.

Here’s how newspapers across the world are covering the attacks:

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Horror was a common theme in Parisian newspapers, and Le Parisien’s headline reads "This time, it’s war":

Screengrab/Philip Bromwell

ISIS is claiming responsibility for the Paris attacks

Christina Sterbenz, Rob Price and Pamela Engel

The terrorist group ISIS (also known as the Islamic State) has claimed responsibility for a night of terror in Paris that left at least 127 dead and 300 injured. 

In an official statement, the group said its fighters strapped with suicide-bombing belts and carrying machine guns carried out the attacks in various locations in the heart of the capital that were carefully studied.

ISIS released the statement in Arabic, English, and French through its various propaganda platforms online. ISIS stated that "France and those who follow its path must know that they remain the principle targets of the Islamic State."

The statement continues: 

… Having dared insult our Prophet, having bragged about fighting Islam in France and striking Muslims in the Caliphate with their planes which have not helped them in any way in the ill-smelling streets of Paris.

This attack is just the start of a storm and a warning for those who wish to draw lessons.

ISIS has also released an undated video threatening France and urging Muslims who can’t travel to Syria, where the terrorist group holds territory, to continue attacks in Paris.

France was already on high alert since the attacks at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015. Those attacks, carried out by Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, killed 18 people. The magazine became a prime terrorist target because of its controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, depictions of whom Islam strictly prohibits. 

Shortly after the Friday evening attack, French President Francois Hollande took an unprecedented step in closing the country’s borders. He has already blamed ISIS for the attack and described it as an "act of war." He plans to address parliament on Monday in an extraordinary meeting.

The attackers used guns and bombs at several sites across Paris on Friday, including the Stade de France stadium and the Bataclan Theater, where a hostage situation saw more than 100 killed. Eight attackers have died — seven after killing themselves using explosive vests, according to Reuters — and the authorities are now searching for accomplices.

Reuters

France will also observe three days of official mourning.

Previously, ISIS also claimed responsibility for downing a Russian passenger plane that crashed over Egypt in October. After that supposed attack, which investigators have not released an official conclusion on, ISIS also released a video threatening to attack Russia more directly.

ISIS’s claim of responsibility could drag Western countries even deeper into conflict in the Middle East, which would be a win for ISIS. The group has a doomsday ideology and believes that Islamic fighters will battle the "infidels" of the West in Dabiq, a town in Syria that ISIS now controls, at the onset of the apocalypse.

Reuters reporting contributed to this post.

 France Seals Borders as Terror Attacks in Paris Kill Dozens

Roughly 150 people have been reported dead and more injured in attacks on seven different sites around Paris, according to French media, citing local police.

At least 118 people were reportedly killed inside the Bataclan theater, a popular concert venue in the 10th arrondissement where six to eight attackers were holding people hostage.

Dozens others were killed in shootings at Le Cambodge restaurant and Le Carillon bar in the 10th arrondissement, and Les Halles shopping center. Other attacks were reported near Rue Faidherbe, Boulevard Beaumarchais, and Rue Albert.

A police operation to free the hostages inside the Bataclan, which is a short walk from the old offices of Charlie Hebdo, has now ended. Five attackers have been neutralized by French police, AFP reported.

Attackers inside Bataclan have reportedly been shooting hostages one-by-one. Five explosions have reportedly been coming from nearby or inside the theater, where at least one gunman was believed to have an explosive belt. One man who escaped told CNN that the attackers had "calmly" reloaded their guns at least 3 times. French police have confirmed that at least one explosion near Stade de France, where the French national soccer team was playing Germany, was a suicide bomb. French President Francois Hollande has closed French borders and declared a state of emergency across France.

There are unconfirmed reports of another ongoing shooting in Les Halles, a shopping center near central Paris. 

Residents near Paris attack locations are offering shelter using the hashtag #PorteOuverte, which means "open door" in French, and Paris taxi drivers are giving people free rides. The Paris Metro has been also been shut down by police.

Police have not confirmed whether the attacks are connected, or if they’re terrorism-related. But US security officials told Reuters they believe the attacks were coordinated, and experts have said that it’s possible that a terrorist group is behind the attack.

"We await a determination of the identity of those responsible," Representative Adam Schiff (D), a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. He noted that the attack "bears all the hallmarks of international terrorism."

US President Barack Obama has been briefed on the unfolding situation by Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, a White House official said. The attacks come two weeks before Obama and other world leaders are due to travel to Paris for climate talks.

"This is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share," Obama said later Friday evening from the White House, where he spoke after a slew of attacks that left dozens of people dead and injured.

"This is a heartbreaking situation."

The New York Police Department said it was in "close touch" with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and its French counterparts. 

"There is no known indication that the attack has any nexus to New York City. We will continue to follow events closely and adjust our deployments accordingly," the NYPD said in a statement.

JM Berger, an expert on ISIS propaganda and author of a recent book on the terrorist group, told Business Insider that it’s "too soon to say" what’s behind the attacks, but that ISIS supporters are tweeting about it.

Mia Bloom, a terrorism expert at Georgia State University, tweeted that these attacks share some of the same hallmarks of terrorist attacks in Paris in January.

"This starts looking a lot like what happened in Paris before," Bloom told Business Insider via email. She speculated that the attacks might be connected to the trial of 20 members of a suspected jihadist cell in France.

Here’s video that’s reportedly from the scene of the attack:

Here is a map of where the four attacks occurred:

 

France Seals Borders as Terror Attacks in Paris Kill Dozens

time.com

In what appears to be the deadliest terror attacks in France in many decades, at least 60 people were killed in Paris on Friday night and scores taken hostage as attackers launched a series of shootings and explosions across the capital city.

Gunmen opened fire in the crowded eastern part of the capital, took about 100 hostages at the Bataclan concert hall during a packed death-metal music performance, and set off explosives at the French national stadium the Stade de France, which was filled to capacity for a France-Germany soccer game—including with President François Hollande, who was among the spectators.

Around 12.30 a.m. police in riot gear stormed the Bataclan concert hall to break the hostage siege. Well after midnight, police sirens screamed through central Paris and police helicopters hovered overhead, as news of more shootings broke in rapid succession. At least four shootings occurred within a few blocks’ range in eastern Paris.

One man emerging from the stadium with France’s national colors painted on his face, described widescale chaos inside. “The crowd started moving, everyone started panicking,” he told a television reporter. “It was impossible to move.”.

Shortly before midnight Hollande went on television to declare a state of emergency, and appealed for calm. The government closed French borders—a highly unusual move for E.U. countries. “We have to be compassionate and we have to be united and keep a cool head. France needs to be strong and the state needs to be strong,” he said. “What the terrorists want is for us to be scared. There are things to be scared about. But in the face of terror we have to be united and we will defeat these terrorists.”

Emergency medics at all hospitals across Paris were called into work shortly before midnight, as the wide scale of casualties became apparent. As the news of the attacks whipped through the city, Parisian taxis switched off their meters on Friday night to ferry people home safely at no cost. Police appealed to people to keep off the streets, on a night when Parisians typically crowd into bars and restaurants to kick off the weekend.

Since January, when jihadists claiming allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria and to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb launched a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and laid siege to a kosher supermarket, the capital has been on high alert. Early details suggest that Friday night’s attacks were far more sophisticated—and more deadly—than those back in January, which involved three gunmen, and killed 14 people.

Parisians have remained highly jittery since the Charlie Hebdo attacks, continually reminded that terror threats remain. There are the bag searches at the doors of major department stores and public buildings, and uniformed soldiers with semi-automatic weapons patrol train stations and major intersections in the capital. All public buildings, including schools, have had red triangles posted on their front doors since January, denoting the highest state of alert in the country. And just last August, three Americans helped to thwart an armed attack on a packed high-speed train from Brussels to Paris, when they wrestled a gunmen to the ground in the passage of the train car.

Worse still, the capital is just two weeks away from hosting its biggest event in many years—the international negotiations of climate change, which opens on Nov. 30 with a gathering of dozens of world leaders, including President Barack Obama.

In the panic late Friday night, the details broke in spurts. The first details of Friday night’s attacks broke at 9.45 p.m. when word came of a shootout at a restaurant in eastern Paris—a neighborhood that is packed with diners at the weekends. Then came worse: a series of explosions at the packed national stadium.

Hundreds of people scrambled on to the field. One of the spectators, Richard M’Barki, told BFM Television by phone shortly after that he had heard three explosions. “There were not many policemen,” he said on air. “People were badly informed.” Police reported that there were two explosions in the stadium, .