Paris Attack; The facts so far

It’s no longer news that France famous city, Paris, was hit by series of terrorist attacks yesterday, but here are the facts so far

France has declared a national state of emergency and tightened borders after the attack in Paris which left at least 128 people dead in a night of gun and bomb attacks and over 200 injured.

Eighty people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took hostages before security forces stormed the hall.

People were shot dead at restaurants and bars at five other sites in Paris.

These are the deadliest attacks in Europe since the 2004 Madrid bombings.

US President Barack Obama spoke of "an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians".

UK PM David Cameron said he was shocked and pledged to do "whatever we can to help".

The Vatican called it "an attack on peace for all humanity" and said "a decisive, supportive response" was needed "on the part of all of us as we counter the spread of homicidal hatred in all its forms".

The Islamic State’s official has claimed responsibility for the attacks claiming its in reprisal of France supporting Syria invasion but seems to have a key mistake, it mentions attacks in the 10th, 11th and the 18th district.

There was no attack in the 18th district, the Stade de France is in the area of Saint-Denis. It is possible the group has mixed these places up, although it does mention that attack earlier in the sentence.

As the violent crisis in Paris developed those at home in the east of the city took to social media not just to hear news and express emotion, but to offer help.

The hashtag “PorteOuverte”, or “open door”, was quickly up and running, with residents in the affected areas offering shelter to anyone who had been cleared from the streets and had nowhere to wait.

Some just posted their addresses, while others asked Twitter users to contact them.

Facebook was soon offering some comfort by marking all friends in Paris locations “safe” as they checked into their pages.

The social media platforms has been flooding with hashtag "prayforparis"

This morning, the official campaign linked to Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, posted a picture of an illuminated Eiffel Tower next to the words of Martin Luther King:

Also this morning in Paris, locals put up a homemade poster saying “I am human” at the base of the Marianne statue, the symbol of the French republic, in Place de la République.

“We aren’t activists, just Parisians,” they told the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison.

It's just 10 months since Paris was the scene of multiple terrorist attacks, first the massacre of staff at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and then a hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket.

What happened in Paris on Friday night is exactly what Europe's security services have long feared, and tried to foil. Simultaneous, rolling attacks, with automatic weapons and suicide bombers in the heart of a major European city, targeting multiple, crowded public locations.

The tactics have been used before, in Mumbai and elsewhere. 

But how they've come to Europe is one of many questions that will have to be answered.

Were the attackers French citizens? If so, how they were radicalized, armed and organised - was it in France, in Syria, and by whom? 

Why weren't they detected? Is France, after two major attacks this year, uniquely vulnerable or does the carnage in Paris mean all of Europe faces new threats to our public places and events?

And if a Syrian link is proven, will France recoil from that conflict or will it redouble its commitment to the fight against radical groups there?

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