Paris Terrorist Attacks: ISIS Claims Responsibility, Threatens More Attacks Against France

ISIS is taking credit for the terrorist attack in Paris, and the radical Islamic militant group is now vowing more bloodshed across France.

A series of coordinated attacks struck Paris on Friday night, with shootings in a number of locations and suicide bombings outside a soccer match between the French and German national teams. More than 120 people were killed in all in what French President Francois Hollande called an “act of war.”

Holland was among the more than 70,000 people at the Stade de France located just north of Paris and was evacuated in time after the bombing.

The deadliest attack took place at the 1,500-seat Bataclan concert hall, where the U.S. band Eagles of Death Metal were performing. At least 80 people were killed when gunman stormed the hall, opening fire and later executing hostages.

“At first we thought it was part of the show but we quickly understood,” Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter, told AFP news agency (via BBC).

“They didn’t stop firing. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere. We heard screaming. Everyone was trying to flee.”

Hollande said the attack was the work of ISIS, showing the group’s growing power on a global scale. Such large-scale attacks have been the hallmark of al Qaeda, the separate Islamist terrorist group that conducted other attacks in Europe including bombings in London and Madrid.

The month that ISIS became a true global threat: https://t.co/nfkEZPDzQq #ParisAttacks pic.twitter.com/hFPXX34aH3

— Slate (@Slate) November 14, 2015

ISIS has also claimed responsibility, releasing a statement saying the attackers were sent on a mission from God. Hollande promised a “merciless” response to the attack.

“We will work alongside our allies to fight this terrorist menace,” he said, adding, “France is strong and even if she is wounded she will get up always and nothing will hold her down, even if we are feeling the grief now… We will defend ourselves.”

What do the #ParisAttacks tell us about ISIS—and will the United States be next? https://t.co/D0fEdSbgCz pic.twitter.com/xoFdWZpVBW

— Slate (@Slate) November 14, 2015

ISIS appears to be copying al Qaeda’s format for attacks as well, which often include multiple attack sites and a high level of planning and coordination, CNN noted.

The “scale and complexity” of the Paris attacks “surprised everyone,” said Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London.

Terror experts had been expecting some kind of attack but did not think ISIS capable of carrying off something on the scale of Friday’s terror, he said.

Now, ISIS has also released a video threatening more attacks in France as the county continues to conduct airstrikes against the militant group.

“A bearded militant in the video says that while the allied forces continue bombing IS positions, they will never be safe,” RT reported. “The video is undated and was released on Saturday via Islamic State’s foreign media arm, the Al-Hayat Media Center.”

The terrorist attacks in Paris also came just a little more than a day after ISIS released a video threatening attacks in Russia. The video, released Wednesday, contained a chant in Russian and video of Russian cities and buildings. The video may have been taken to coincide with the crash of Metrojet plane, the Russian airliner downed over Egypt by a suspected ISIS attack, reported the New York Daily News.

The video threatened to “make your wives concubines and your children slaves,” and said the ISIS jihadists would make “blood spill like an ocean” in Russia.

Russian officials said they were taking the video seriously.

“I’ve read news about this video, but have not seen it myself,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. “I don’t know the authenticity of this video, and I don’t know the authenticity of these sources. But in any case I’m sure this material will be subject of scrutiny by our special services.”

Despite the statement taking credit for the massacre, officials are still trying to verify that the Paris terrorist attack was carried out by ISIS.

[Image via Twitter/Al Arabiya English]