France commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Paris attacks under maximum terrorist alert

ParisThe Eiffel Tower will be illuminated tonight with the colors of the French flag in memory of the 130 victims of the worst terrorist attacks France has ever experienced. Ten years have passed, but The memory of that night of November 13, 2015 remains very present among the FrenchJihadist terrorism struck the nation's capital on a night of utter horror, with terrorists attacking various locations in Paris. First, outside the Stade de France, while a football match between the French and German national teams was underway, and then on the terraces of bars and restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements of Paris, where the jihadists fired indiscriminately. Most of the fatalities occurred later inside the Bataclan concert hall, where terrorists stormed in the middle of an Eagles of Death Metal concert, armed with Kalashnikov rifles and opening fire on the audience. Images of wounded and screaming people fleeing the Bataclan through the side emergency exit or climbing out of windows, captured by a journalist, are deeply moving. Le Monde, Daniel Psenny, who lived next to the concert hall, still finds it chilling. Psenny was wounded by a gunshot fired by a terrorist from a window when he went down to the street to help the victims.

Amid the chaos, the then President of the Republic, François Hollande, addressed the French people in a televised message in which he appeared nervous and emotional. Hollande announced that he had declared a state of emergency, ordered the closure of borders, and the deployment of the army in Paris. "There are many wounded. It's horrific," the head of state said. while the terrorists were still storming the Bataclan concert hall.

Tribute to the victims

This Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron will preside over the inauguration of a memorial in the center of Paris, and throughout the day there will be commemorative events at the sites of the attacks. Just as ten years ago, ordinary citizens have left flowers, candles, and messages at the entrance to the Bataclan concert hall and on the terraces where dozens of people died. Also at the Place de la République, The place where, after the attacks, thousands of Parisians gathered to remember the victims and protest against the terrorist acts.

Ten years later, France wants to remember the victims, but also wants to heal the wound. The trial held in 2022 marked a turning point for the survivors and families of the victims. With the inauguration of the memorial and the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the massacre, the survivors are demanding to stop being victims and move on. "When you are a victim, you try to stop being one and be able to say 'I was a victim' and not 'I am a victim,'" they said. Arthur Dénouveaux, a survivor of the Bataclan concert hall attack, explains to ARA and president of the victims' association Life for Paris. The association will be dissolved this Thursday, a symbol of a circle closing. Dénouveaux emphasizes in the interview published this Thursday that the memories of that night remain vivid, but assures that he has learned "to live with them."

Maximum terrorist alert

A decade after the attacks of November 13, France remains on its highest level of terrorist alert. Since mid-2024, the country has maintained this level. "France, because of its history, culture, and values, continues to be a target for terrorism," a spokesperson stated on Thursday. Le Monde François Hollande. The current Director General of Internal Security for the French government, Céline Berthon, has also warned that a large-scale attack could happen again. "We must not forget the 2015 attacks in any way, because nothing guarantees that it won't happen again one day," she emphasized to France Info.

The threat, however, is not exactly the same. Ten years ago, attacks were conceived and prepared from abroad, in other countries like Syria or Afghanistan, by the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, and then carried out by cells on the ground, mainly with radicalized locals. But in recent times, intelligence services have managed to curb attacks by international jihadist groups and, according to experts, These groups no longer have the means to perpetrate large-scale attacks in Western countries as they did eight or ten years ago. The Islamic State "is far from its operational capabilities of 10 years ago," says Marc Hecker, executive director of the French Institute of International Relations, in an interview with BFMTV. The threat now centers primarily on radicalized Muslims living in Europe who are not directly linked to the Islamic State or any other international terrorist group, but who are steeped in its propaganda and ideals—often through the internet—to the point of wanting to take action. According to Berthon, the profile of those preparing to carry out attacks is that of increasingly younger youths. French intelligence services have even thwarted attack plots involving teenagers.