The Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris continued to prompt raids and arrests in Europe and airstrikes in Syria on Monday. They’ve also spurred pledges of support from around the globe, while skepticism of Syrian refugees is sprouting in some American states.
Many nations also find themselves at heightened terror alerts after ISIS released a video promising more attacks and the CIA director said Paris wasn’t likely a “one-off event.”
Three teams of terrorists staged coordinated attacks at six locations throughout Paris late Friday, including a concert hall, the Stade de France and at least two restaurants, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. At least 352 people were wounded in the attacks, 99 of them seriously.
Seven terrorists were killed, one fewer than ISIS said were involved, Molins said.
Here is what we know so far from officials and local news reports:
The latest
— NEW: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has written U.S. President Barack Obama to say his state will not accept any refugees from Syria. Other states, including Indiana, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Massachusetts and Arkansas, have made similar moves. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has asked the federal government to remain transparent with any resettlements.
— NEW: London’s Metropolitan Police will be increasing the number of officers on patrol at Tuesday’s England vs. France soccer match at Wembley Stadium. Ticket holders are being asked to arrive early for entry searches, police said.
— NEW: U.S. President Barack Obama stood by his ISIS strategy during a news conference at the G20 Summit in Turkey, saying the strategy would be intensified going forward. Airstrikes have been effective at taking out ISIS leadership, he said, adding that putting ground troops in harm’s way would be a “mistake.”
— NEW: The U.S. and France will “bolster” their intelligence sharing, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said, explaining in a statement that U.S. military personnel have received instructions on how to share “operational planning information and intelligence,” to the fullest extent of the law.
— NEW: CIA Director John Brennan said he would not consider the Paris attacks a “one-off event” and the circumstances make it clear this was not a spontaneous attack but one planned over time. “And so I would anticipate this is not the only operation that ISIL has in the pipeline,” he said. He also said that intelligence agencies are challenged because their “ability to surveil is under strain.” He said the attack in Paris was “not a surprise,” that they had “strategic warning.
The investigation
— The Paris attacks were planned in Syria and organized in Belgium, French President Francois Hollande said. Six of the Paris attackers spent time in Syria, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV in France.
— Belgian authorities initially arrested seven people in sweeps following the Paris attacks, but five of them have been released, according to Jean Pascal Thoreau of Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office. Mohammed Abdeslam, the brother of Salah Abdeslam — who is wanted in connection with the Paris attacks — was among those released. Thoreau does not know the whereabouts of Salah Abdeslam, he said, adding that no one had been arrested in Monday morning’s raids in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, a city reputedly frequented by terrorists.
— Salah Abdeslam, a Belgian-born French national, was stopped near the Belgian border by French police shortly after the Paris attacks Friday night, but he was not a suspect at that time and was let go, sources told CNN.
— A black Seat and a black Volkswagen Polo, which is registered in Belgium, appear to be two cars used in the Paris attacks. The Polo was rented by Salah Abdeslam, who was in a different vehicle when he was intercepted at the Belgian border, and the Seat was found in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil with three Kalashnikov automatic rifles inside, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
— One of the attackers from the Bataclan massacre has been identified as Samy Amimour, 28, of Drancy, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced. He had been the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2013, the office said.
— Twenty-three people are in custody and weapons, including a rocket launcher, and IT equipment have been seized after more than 150 police anti-terror raids were carried out in cities across France since Friday, said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who has ordered 104 people be put under house arrest.
— Two of the dead attackers were identified as Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, and Bilal Hafdi, 19 or 20. Some of Mostefai’s and Amimour’s relatives have been detained, a common practice in France. The relatives haven’t been charged.
— Mostefai entered Turkey legally in 2013, a Turkish official said. The following year, France provided four names of terror suspects, and a subsequent investigation revealed Mostefai was associated with that group, the official said. In December 2014 and in June, Turkey requested more information on Mostefai, but France did not respond, the official said. There is no record of Mostefai leaving Turkey, the official said.
— European officials believe professional terrorists are joining migrant voyages. One of the suicide bombers at the Stade de France was carrying a fake Syrian passport and arrived among the refugees on the Greek island of Leros on October 3.
The scene in Paris
— Hollande addressed a joint session of the French Parliament — only the third time a president has done so since 1848 — and said he would seek to add 5,000 positions to the country’s paramilitary police force.
— Hollande declared a state of emergency across France, which lets authorities limit people’s movements and impose zones of security and protection. Hollande would like to see his country’s state of emergency in place for three months, and he proposed measures that would allow France to deport suspected terrorists or strip them of their citizenship, even if they were born in the country, he said.
— The French government announced tightened border controls, put the gendarmerie paramilitary police on heightened alert and ordered 1,500 military troops to join already increased security forces. France intends to continue airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, and the arrival of aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will triple the country’s ability to carry out those strikes, Hollande said.
Repercussions around the globe
— The FBI and Department of Homeland Security said there is “no credible threat to the United States.” The statement came in response to a purported ISIS video in which a fighter says the terror organization will “strike America in its own stronghold in Washington.”
— Obama denounced the idea of “religious tests” for refugees: “When I hear a political leader suggesting that there should be a religious test for which a person who is fleeing from a war torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that is shameful.”
— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Khaled Khoja, president of the Syrian opposition coalition, over the phone and “emphasized the importance of the Syrian opposition coming together to ensure that they can participate actively and meaningfully” in upcoming U.N.-brokered negotiations between the opposition and Syrian regime, State Department Spokesman John Kirby said.
— Cazeneuve said “war” had been declared on France, and warned that “anybody who attacks the Republic, the Republic will fight back.” The French air force carried out bombing missions over Raqqa Sunday and Monday against strategic ISIS targets.
— Around the world, Obama pledged solidarity with France, Pope Francis condemned the killings, British Prime Minister David Cameron convened a meeting of the emergency response committee, Russian leader Vladimir Putin sent condolences to France, The Netherlands increased border security and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “stands shoulder to shoulder to France.”