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

ParisThe Eiffel Tower was illuminated 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

"What happened is undoubtedly irreparable," Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday during a memorial service in central Paris, which opened with an instrumental version of Hells Bells, from the band of heavy metal AC/DC. The melody, played on an electronic organ by the French-Cameroonian Ann Shiley, intertwined with the sound of the bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral and other churches in the capital.

The memorial took place at the so-called Tree of Justice, a centuries-old elm tree located in the center of the Jardin des Beaux-Arts on November 13, 2015, next to the Paris City Hall and a short walk from Notre-Dame Cathedral. Minutes before the ceremony began, the cathedral's great bells rang in unison with those of Saint-Sulpice, Sacré-Cœur, Saint-Germain, Saint-Eustache, and other churches in Paris, as a symbol of unity and in remembrance of the 132 people murdered. In the background, the image of Mariane (one of the symbols of the French Republic) weeping was projected.

From behind the podium, the French president lamented the "unjust and unbearable" pain of the victims and praised the role of the Republic, which, he maintains, "stood firm" against the horror through its officials; the very workers who have done "everything possible to prevent further attacks." "[The terrorists] did not attack you individually. [...] They attacked France. They attacked us for being French," Macron said, addressing the survivors and the families of the victims. "They attacked a way of being in the world, imbued with rootedness and universalism." "When terrorists want to attack democracy, freedom, their target is France," the leader emphasized.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also stressed that, although ten years have passed, "that night remains in our memories as if it had never ended." The Socialist leader emotionally praised how "Paris, wounded, resisted and, as always, rose again the following Saturday" and how "Parisians, true to their values and their history, flooded the streets, squares, boulevards, and terraces." Throughout the day, the two leaders participated in the commemorative events held at each of the locations in the city where the attacks took place. Just as ten years ago, ordinary citizens 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.

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 there is no guarantee that it won't happen again one day," she emphasized to France Info.

However, the threat 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 using 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. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, the terrorist threat in France "remains very high," but an attack like the one on November 13 is "unlikely." The threat now focuses primarily on radicalized Muslims living in Europe who are not directly linked to the Islamic State or any other international terrorist group, but who absorb its propaganda and ideals—often through the internet—to the point of wanting to take action. The Director General of Internal Security maintains that the profile of those preparing to carry out attacks is increasingly that of younger people. French intelligence services have even thwarted attack plots involving teenagers.