France remembers victims of 2015 Paris terror attacks

On this day in 2015, Paris suffered its worst terror attack. Gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars almost simultaneously. More than 130 people were killed. The attacks were described by then-President François Hollande as an act of war organized by the Islamic State militant group. In the days that immediately followed, French police carried out hundreds of raids across the country as they searched for suspects. Raids also took place in the Belgian city of Brussels. The deadliest attack of the night came at a concert venue, the Bataclan, and that's where we can cross to speak to our reporter, James Andre. Hello to you, James. Tell us more about today's commemorations. Well, as you know, this has been a it was a spate of attacks across Paris that took place on that night on the 13th of November. And the commemorations have been basically going along the tracks of those attackers, starting at the Stade de France, where indeed terrorists detonated two explosive devices around the Stade de France as a match was being played inside. And actually, the president of the French Republic at the time was present at these matches, that was François Hollande. And then, well, the attackers went on a rampage across Paris, attacking terraces of cafes. And this is also what's being commemorated today, with these commemorations taking place in all these various cafes and finishing off here at the Bataclan. On that night, there was a concert by the metal group Eagles of Death Metal, and indeed 90 people were killed in the Bataclan. right here behind me and indeed this this was a very long night including for the policemen who are represented here today that is the BRI and the RAID which are the elite members of the French police that indeed raided this concert hall behind me at the time while releasing a lot of the concertgoers who survived but indeed 90 people died here and in all 132 people died of these attacks 130 on the night and two more committed suicide in the wake of that and the families of these victims are also here today. Emmanuel Macron is not present, he is represented by the interior minister, Laurent Nunez, who is also here, of course, to pay respect to the police forces that were implicated in the deadly attacks on that night. Yeah, James, it's one of those clearly life-altering moments for France, for the city, anyone who lived in the French capital at the time remembers where they were when those attacks happened. And these attacks have had major consequences since 2015, haven't they? Yes, absolutely. You've got to remember that at the time, the Islamic State group had taken control of parts of Iraq and Syria, proclaimed a caliphate, and indeed France was one of its main targets at the time. At the time, France was taking part in a military operation in Syria. In the wake of these attacks, indeed, France doubled down on its bombings of the capital of this so-called caliphate by the Islamic State group in Raqqa. Also, a state of emergency was declared here in France, and that state of emergency lasted till 2017. It was a major shock for the population. Here, of course, and you've got to remember that at the time there was a wave of attacks in France that started with the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015 and then carried on into 2016. So, yes, France was very much in a state of tension and a state of war. As you know, the Islamic State group was defeated in Iraq and Syria, and that so-called caliphate has now disappeared. And at the time, indeed, the authorities made a point of avoiding people to mix up the Islamic religion with these terrorist attacks in the policy was pas d'amalgame. And indeed, yes, this has had major implications, both when it comes to French politics, but also geopolitically in the Middle East and around the world.