PARIS - French President Francois Hollande vowed to attack the Islamic State group without mercy as the jihadist group admitted responsibility for deadly Paris terror attacks which triggered heightened security across Europe.
On guard: French military patrol near the Eiffel Tower yesterday in a show of force the day after a series of deadly attacks swept through Paris, killing at least 127 people.
Mr Hollande said at least 127 people died on Friday night in shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France’s national stadium and a hostage-taking slaughter inside a concert hall.
Mr Hollande, who declared three days of national mourning and raised the nation’s security to its highest level, called the carnage "an act of war that was prepared, organised, planned from abroad with internal help".
The Islamic State group’s claim of responsibility appeared in Arabic and French in an online statement circulated by IS supporters.
The statement said eight militants armed with explosive belts and automatic weapons attacked carefully chosen targets in the "capital of adultery and vice", including a soccer stadium where France was playing Germany, and the Bataclan concert hall, where an American rock band was playing, and "hundreds of apostates were attending an adulterous party".
The statement said France and its supporters "will remain at the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State".
Mr Hollande said France — which is already bombing IS targets in Syria and Iraq as part of the US-led coalition, and has troops fighting militants in Africa — "will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group".
As Mr Hollande addressed the nation, French anti-terror police worked to identify potential accomplices to the attackers, who remained a mystery to the public: their nationalities, their motives, even their exact number.
Authorities said eight died, seven in suicide bombings, a new terror tactic in France. Police said they shot and killed the other assailant.
Prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said authorities couldn’t rule out the possibility that other militants involved in the attack remained at large.
World leaders united in sympathy and indignation, New York police increased security measures, and people worldwide reached out to friends and loved ones in France.
The violence raised questions about security for the millions of tourists who come to Paris and for world events routinely hosted in the normally luminous capital, where troops were deployed to support police trying to restore order.
French authorities have closed the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum and other top tourist sites in Paris, including Disneyland, until further notice following deadly terror attacks.
Parisians expressed shock, disgust and defiance in equal measure. Hundreds of soccer fans departing the stadium on Friday night waved French flags and sang impromptu choruses of the national anthem, Le Marseillaise. The next morning, hundreds queued outside a hospital near the Bataclan theatre, scene of the most appalling violence, to donate blood. As a shrine of flowers expanded along the sidewalk, a lone guitarist sang John Lennon's peace ballad, Imagine.
European capitals reinforced security checks and the UK, Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain held emergency meetings yesterday and called for heightened vigilance from the general public.
Security measures were stepped up outside French official buildings in various capitals including Vienna, where a international meeting on the conflict in Syria was taking place.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would review national security after talks with key ministers at Downing Street. He also warned the country "must be prepared for a number of British casualties" as he condemned the "brutal and callous murderers".
London's Gatwick Airport evacuated its North Terminal and a man was arrested last night after the discovery of a suspect package in the wake of the attack. Bomb disposal experts were on the scene. Early reports in British media said the man, believed to be a French national, had attempted to check in to a flight carrying two firearms.
Friday night’s militants launched at least six gun and bomb attacks in rapid succession on apparently indiscriminate civilian targets. The coordinated attacks began about 9.15pm local time with three suicide bombings near the Stade de France, where Mr Hollande and a crowd of 80,000 were watching a France-Germany soccer game. French police said a Syrian passport was found on the body of one suicide bomber.
Almost simultaneously, gunmen with automatic rifles jumped from cars at various bars and restaurants in the vibrant 10th and 11th arrondissements of the capital, shooting at Parisians who moments earlier were enjoying a normal start to the weekend.
Around the same time, fusillades of bullets shattered the clinking of wine glasses in a trendy Paris neighbourhood as gunmen targeted a string of cafes, which were crowded on an unusually balmy November night. At least 37 people were killed, according to Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins.
The deadliest attack was at Bataclan, where suicide bombers held hundreds hostage, killing more than 80 and severely injuring dozens before police stormed the concert venue.