CGTN America
Jean-Marie de Peretti mourns the loss of his 33-year-old daughter Aurelie, one of the victims of the attack on the Bataclan concert hall, rear, a site of last Friday’s attacks, in Paris, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Paris is a city still in a state of shock after the deadly attacks on Friday left 129 dead. French President Francois Hollande has vowed to destroy ISIL and has begun an intensified bombing campaign in Syria.
French fighter jets bombed Islamic State targets in Raqqa for a second day on Monday, in the first stage of what Hollande promises will be a “merciless response” to Friday’s deadly attacks.
“The enemy is using the most vile means to try to kill but it is not elusive. I will be even more precise: it is NOT out of reach,” Hollande said.
The French Prime Minister said they knew France was a target and that attacks were being prepared. He also said they know more are being planned both for here in France and elsewhere in Europe.
CCTV’s Kate Parkinson reports.
Paris mourns its fallen victims
Despite an ongoing state of emergency in France, the Eiffel Tower and many businesses reopened on Monday. But Paris in particular remains tense with police warning people not to gather in large numbers in case of another attack.
CCTV’s Jack Barton reports.
Across France people held a minute of silence on Monday to honor those killed as well as the more than 350 people injured, many of them still in a critical condition. Silence was also observed by worshippers at the Paris Grand Mosque followed by condemnation of those who carried out the bloodshed.
“Islam does not associate itself with acts of terrorism in the slightest – something that is said very commonly by these killers, these slaughterers, these assassins.” said the head of the Paris Grand Mosque Dalil Boubakeur.
Paris attacks recalls previous violence in Spain
France’s neighbor Spain knows all too well the horrors of terrorism. The tragic events on Friday are the deadliest in Europe since the 2004 Atocha train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people.
CCTV’s Dan Williams reports.
The attack also highlighted a broader scale of operation in Europe by Islamic State.
“The difference in this case is the number of terrorists because if we compare with the incident in August this year and the attack on a train, in that case we had only one terrorist,” said International Relations Professor Carlos Esceverria, at the National University of Distance Education.
“Now we have a group of people who are providing also explosives and with intention to becoming martyrs. The French authorities tried to face it as strong as they can but it is impossible to get total security.”
There is now a concern Europe’s Muslim populations will be blamed for the attack. Muslim leaders are calling for a greater understanding and unity.
“They are aiming to precisely to stir more and more suspicion between Muslim communities and Europe. So we need more imaginative ways to really counter the increase in recruits that ISIS is successfully doing, ” Karim Hauser, of Casa Arabe said.
Marco Vicenzino of Global Strategy Project discusses Paris attacks
CCTV America also interviewed Marco Vicenzino, director of the Global Strategy Project about how the attacks have complicated the refugee crisis. Follow Vicenzino on Twitter @marcovicenzino.
