Paris [France], November 14: France is commemorating the victims of the Islamist terrorist attacks that struck Paris exactly 10 years ago with moments of silence, the tolling of church bells and wreath-laying ceremonies across the capital.
President Emmanuel Macron attended an early morning memorial ceremony on Thursday at the Stade de France, where suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the stadium during a football match on November 13, 2015.
"The pain remains," Macron wrote on X. "In solidarity, France remembers those who lost their lives, those who were injured, and their families and loved ones." Ceremonies were scheduled throughout the day at each of the attack sites to honour the 130 people killed.
Crowds laid flowers and lit candles at memorial sites and at the central Place de la Republique. Church bells across the country were set to ring in the evening, and a minute's silence was to be observed before France's football match against Ukraine. The Eiffel Tower and other landmarks were illuminated in the national colours on Wednesday night in tribute.
Ten years ago militants killed 130 people and wounded 350 more in coordinated assaults on the Bataclan concert hall, bars and restaurants, and outside the Stade de France.
The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility. The only surviving attacker was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022, while 19 accomplices and supporters were also found guilty.
The attacks left a deep scar on the nation, which saw them as an assault on personal freedom and the French way of life.
Source: Qatar Tribune
