November 19, 2015

French authorities announced today that the suspected mastermind of last Friday’s deadly Paris attacks was killed in a police raid in a Paris suburb early yesterday. Authorities said a fingerprint analysis confirmed the death of Islamic State, or ISIS, terrorist suspect Abdelhamid Abaaoud. It was not immediately determined whether Abaaoud died from police gunfire or blew himself up during the raid on an apartment in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is lit up in the red, white, and blue of the French flag, in tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks. Credit: © Rex Features/AP Images

Authorities say a woman who was with Abaaoud also died in the operation, by detonating a suicide belt when elite police forces stormed the apartment. Eight people were arrested. Authorities have linked Abaaoud, a Belgian national, to several foiled attacks earlier this year that involved a church near Paris and a high-speed train bound for the French capital.

On Friday, November 13, Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that left 129 civilians and 7 terrorists dead. Hundreds of civilians were wounded, some critically. French President François Hollande called the attacks an “act of war.” The Islamic State took responsibility for the massacre. President Hollande closed the borders to France and issued a curfew for Paris and a state of emergency for the entire nation.

The attacks began when a bomb was detonated outside the Stade de France, the national sports stadium, just north of the city limits of Paris. A soccer game was in progress between Germany and France, with 80,000 people at the stadium at the time, including President Hollande. The president and other fans were safely evacuated. About 5 minutes after the first attack, gunmen opened fire on patrons at a bar and two restaurants. Soon after, the deadliest attack of the night took place at the Bataclan theater, where a sold-out concert by the American rock band the Eagles of Death Metal was being held. Terrorists entered the theater and began shooting AK-47 assault rifles into the crowd of some 1,500 people. The terrorists then gathered up some 100 people to hold as hostages. French security forces stormed the Bataclan soon after, but the terrorists blew themselves up, killing 8 hostages. Eighty-nine people died at the Bataclan.

On Saturday, November 14, police in Belgium stopped a car that had been used in the Paris attacks. The stop led to raids and arrests in Belgium as police searched for accomplices. A manhunt for more attackers was also underway in France. On Sunday, French warplanes launched air strikes in retaliation on the Syrian city of Ar Raqqah, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. The French strikes were reported to have hit the terrorist group’s command center, a training facility, and an arms depot. France has been active in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

The Paris attacks came after two earlier attacks by the Islamic State in as many weeks. On October 31, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. ISIS claimed responsibility. On November 16, Russia confirmed that the plane was brought down by a homemade bomb planted in the plane’s cargo hold. Russia had recently entered the fight in the Syrian civil war. On November 12, Islamic State bombings in Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 40 people. The bombs were set off in a Hezbollah stronghold; the group has been fighting in the Syrian civil war on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and against the Islamic State.

Paris had been on high alert since January 2015, when Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people in the building were killed. The attacks took place over three days and resulted in the deaths of 20 people in total.

November 17, 2015

On Friday, November 13, everyone in the world learned quickly of the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris, France, that killed 129 people. There was scant coverage, however, of the Islamic State bombings earlier that day that killed 26 people in Baghdad, Iraq; or the Islamic State bombings the day before that killed 43 people in Beirut, Lebanon. Obviously, these horrible events were overshadowed by the severity and shock of the Paris attacks. But these “other attacks” were just as important, and highlighted the animosity that has existed between the Sunni and Shī`ah divisions of Islam for many centuries. Most of the victims of the Baghdad attack were Shī`ites gathered for the funeral of a comrade killed fighting against the Islamic State, a radical Sunni Muslim group. In Beirut, the bomb victims were mainly members of Hezbollah, a Shī`ite group fighting the Islamic State in neighboring Syria. In all three attacks—Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris—the Islamic State was retaliating against its enemies and people who oppose its strict and vicious rule. But only the attack in Paris sparked global outrage and condemnation as well as support for the people of France.

Islamic State bombings in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, killed 26 people on Nov. 13, 2015.

Baghdad has seen violence rather steadily since the Iraq War, and it is almost understandable—if rather callous—that people react little to “yet another” terrorist bombing in the Iraqi capital. But it is the Iraqi people who have fought the Islamic State the hardest and longest. And more Iraqis have died at the hands of Islamic State terrorists—not to mention their paternal group, al-Qa`ida—than anyone else.

Islamic State bombings killed 43 people in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Nov. 12, 2015. Beirut lies only about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Syrian border.
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Lebanon has seen comparatively little violence, despite its proximity to war-plagued Syria and Iraq—and the Lebanese have taken in over 1 million refugees. Minor terrorist attacks have hit Beirut as recently as 2014, but the 43 people killed on November 12 were the most in that city since Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990. Beirut is not a war zone, just as Paris is not, and deaths in Lebanon matter just as much as deaths in Paris, or Baghdad, or anywhere else.

Other Behind the Headlines article

      Terror Returns to Paris

November 16, 2015

Mourners pay their respects at one of the attack sites in Paris, November 15, 2015. Credit: © Benoit Tessier, Reuters/Landov

Last Friday night, November 13, Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that left more than 129 civilians and 7 terrorists dead. Hundreds of civilians were wounded, some very seriously. French President François Hollande called the attacks an “act of war.” The Islamic State, or ISIS, took responsibility for the massacre. President Hollande closed the borders to France and issued a curfew for Paris and a state of emergency for the entire nation. 

The attacks began when one bomb was detonated outside the Stade de France, the national sports stadium, just north of the city limits of Paris. A soccer game was in progress between Germany and France, with 80,000 people at the stadium at the time, including President Hollande. The president and other fans were safely evacuated. About 5 minutes after the first attack, gunmen opened fire on patrons at a bar and a restaurant, both near the Place de la Republique. Soon after, the deadliest attack of the night took place at the Bataclan theater—a beautiful building dating to 1865 with a Chinese-style facade (front). The theater, just east of the Bastille, was holding a sold-out concert by an American rock band, the Eagles of Death Metal. Terrorists entered the theater and began shooting AK-47 assault rifles into the crowd of some 1,500 people. The terrorists then gathered up some 100 people to hold as hostages. French security forces stormed the Bataclan soon after, but the terrorists detonated explosive vests, killing themselves and 8 hostages. Eighty-nine people died at the Bataclan.

The Paris attacks came after two earlier attacks by the Islamic State in as many weeks, causing experts to fear that the group’s coordinated influence is spreading. On October 31, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. (On November 16, Russia confirmed that the plane was brought down by a bomb planted in the plane’s cargo hold.) Russia had recently entered the fight in the Syrian civil war against both rebel groups and the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the crash. On November 12, Islamic State bombings in Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 40 people. The bombs were set off in a Hezbollah stronghold; the group has been fighting in the Syrian civil war on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and against the Islamic State. France has been active in the fight against the Islamic State as well.

Paris had been on high alert since January 2015, when Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people in the building were killed. The attacks took place over three days and resulted in the deaths of 20 people in total. Millions of people in France demonstrated to show solidarity for free speech. France then deployed thousands of soldiers around the nation to safeguard against further attacks. In August, an attack on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris was thwarted by tourists who stopped a would-be terrorist with an AK-47 rifle. 

On Saturday, November 14, police in Belgium stopped a car that had been used in the most recent attacks in Paris, leading to raids and arrests in Belgium as police searched for accomplices. A manhunt for more attackers was also underway in France. On Sunday, French warplanes launched air strikes in retaliation on the Syrian city of Ar Raqqah, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. The French strikes were reported to have hit a command center, a training facility, and an arms depot all belonging to the terrorist group.