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French counterterrorism units conducted raids across the country, while police searched for a Belgian man linked to Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Terrorists killed at least 129 people in a series of coordinated attacks on popular hangouts in the French capital. The attacks injured more than 350 people.
On Monday, French officials said 168 anti-terrorist raids were conducted across the country overnight and that 104 people were placed under house arrest. Another 23 people were taken into questioning. During the raids, 31 weapons, including four military-grade weapons, were found, according to the French Interior Ministry.
Seven of the assailants died Friday night by blowing themselves up with sophisticated suicide vests. On Sunday, French police released a photo of a suspect identified as a 26-year-old Belgian man named Salah Abdeslam, who is still on the run. An international manhunt is underway to find him.
On Monday, the Paris prosecutor’s office identified two bombers believed to be involved in the attacks: Samy Amimour, who was one of the bombers at the Bataclan theater, and Ahmad Al-Mohammed, who attacked the Stade de France. Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud has also been linked to the attacks, the Associated Press reports. Here’s everything we know about the attackers so far.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, which French President François Hollande called an “act of war.” Over the weekend, French fighter jets dropped 20 bombs on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, in Syria, BuzzFeed News reports. The strikes destroyed an ISIS command center and training camp, according to a Facebook post by the French air force.
France is now under a state of emergency which may be extended for up to three months, AFP reports. The country has also taken steps to begin shutting down mosques where hatred is preached, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Sunday.
BuzzFeed News correspondents are on the ground in Paris and Brussels.
A 35-year-old woman on vacation in Paris spoke with BuzzFeed France about the scene inside the theater where American band the Eagles of Death Metal were performing. More than 100 people were taken hostage during the show Friday night, before French special forces laid siege to the venue. More than 82 people died. “When I heard the gunshots, I told myself that it was undoubtedly the people who were to get up ... It’s when I saw the blood that I realized this wasn't a bad joke,” she said.
The highly coordinated nature of Friday’s attacks has raised questions about whether French counterterrorism units received any warnings that an attack was imminent, BuzzFeed News’ Borzou Daragahi and Max Seddon write. One western diplomat told BuzzFeed News: “We knew it was coming… The fact that we failed to stop it is definitely a failure. But you can’t imagine the number of attacks we have stopped. This was the nightmare scenario. The targets were all soft targets. How can you protect against people determined to attack a bar or concert?”
Tech companies also responded to the attacks. More than 4 million people used Facebook’s “Safety Check” tool to let their friends know they were safe, BuzzFeed News’ Brendan Klinkenberg writes. “Safety Check was first developed in October 2014, and has been used five times since then, most notably after the earthquake in Nepal earlier this year. Its use in Paris marks the first time Facebook has used it for anything other than a natural disaster,” Klinkenberg reports.
Speaking in Turkey, President Obama says #ParisAttacks were 'attack on the civilized world,' pledges to help hunt attackers, @AP reports
A little extra.
World leaders reacted with horror to the events in Paris, while Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Ted Cruz called for the U.S. to reconsider taking Syrian refugees. But fear of refugees is what ISIS wants, BuzzFeed News’ Mike Giglio writes. Another candidate, Jeb Bush, said the U.S. should focus its efforts on Christian refugees fleeing Syria, as long as they have been “properly screened.” And Alabama’s governor said he will oppose any effort to relocate Syrian refugees to his state after the attacks.
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation ordering flags across the country to fly at half-mast in memory of the victims of the Paris attacks until sunset on Thursday.
A lot of misinformation about the attacks was shared on social media — these are the rumors about the attacks you should not believe.
WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON
The U.S. Presidential Race, #DemDebate Edition
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley faced off during the second Democratic presidential debate in Iowa on Saturday.
Some highlights from the debate.
The candidates said they were “shocked and disgusted” by the attacks in Paris, and traded various barbs over economic policy, gun control, health care, police accountability, and Wall Street.
The Vermont senator did just fine. But hopes among the Bernie faithful that the debate would give Sanders a chance to regain the extraordinary momentum he lost in October didn’t materialize.
Sanders also defended his position that the minimum wage should be $15 nationally.
Sanders and O’Malley criticized Clinton for her vote for the Iraq war, which they and other experts say contributed to the rise of ISIS. Clinton countered by emphasizing her record as secretary of state.
One of the most noteworthy exchanges of the night came when Clinton invoked the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in defense of receiving Wall Street contributions.
And O’Malley called Republican candidate Donald Trump “that immigrant-bashing carnival barker.”
If you want the latest news and stories, download the BuzzFeed News app for iOS and Android.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
The terrorists who are born and bred in America.
In the first installment of a BuzzFeed News series on homegrown terrorism in America, Nicolás Medina Mora and Mike Hayes report on how the case of conflicted teenager Mohamed Osman Mohamud could determine whether the American government is allowed to spy wholesale on its citizens.
Mohamud was convicted in a plot to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. The plot was actually a U.S. government sting, the result of a yearlong operation involving dozens of people, a secret court order, and a massive surveillance apparatus, Mora and Hayes write.
After Mohamud’s trial, the U.S. government informed his lawyers that the FBI had used amendments to the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act to access his communications without needing a particular warrant. Mohamud’s lawyers are seeking to get his conviction overturned.
Quick things to know:
Protests erupted in Minneapolis after police shot a black man during an altercation. (Associated Press)
A father sacrificed his life to save hundreds of people from a suicide bomber in Beirut (BuzzFeed News)
Spike Lee and the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called on the entertainment industry to be more diverse. (BuzzFeed News)
Holly Holm pulled off a shocking upset when she knocked out reigning champion (and formerly undefeated) Ronda Rousey in a bout for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title. (BuzzFeed News)
California Gov. Jerry Brown has extended an executive order that requires residents of the state to conserve water in preparation for another year of drought. (BuzzFeed News)
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea this week, according to a South Korean report. (BBC News)
The Pentagon has transferred five Yemeni detainees held for more than a decade at Guantanamo Bay to the United Arab Emirates. (Washington Post)
The University of Missouri’s football team has had a long, tense history with racism on campus. (BuzzFeed News)
What it’s like to date when you can’t have sex. (BuzzFeed)
Two Zebras escaped from a circus and ran through Philadelphia. (BuzzFeed News)
Have you heard Demi Lovato’s cover of Adele’s “Hello”? (BuzzFeed)
Happy Monday
As Paris recovers from one of the deadliest attacks on France in decades, the city’s residents want everyone to know that they’re “scared, but standing,” BuzzFeed News’ Ryan Broderick writes from Paris. Parisians still went out on Saturday night, meeting friends on terraces throughout the city. One Parisian told BuzzFeed: “it’s bizarre, but the act of enjoying a beer is almost like a political statement now.” The City of Lights continues to inspire, even in the most difficult times.
This letter was edited and brought to you by Claire Moses, Sam Kirkland, and Stacy-Marie Ishmael. You can always reach us here.
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