Paris attacks coordinated- Suspicion on Syria returnees

As France fights one of the worst terror attacks on its soil, the United States of America says that the incident was a coordinated one. The series of attacks that rocked Paris resulted in nearly 100 deaths and several persons being taken hostage.

Even as the French agencies were engaged in counter-terror exercises some pro ISIS twitter accounts were using the hashtag Paris is Burning. However no group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of now.

US security officials believe the series of attacks were likely coordinated based on initial reports. In a statement, French President Francois Hollande announced that a state of emergency would be imposed for the whole country, and that France would be closing its borders.

Scores of security personnel have been deployed on the ground to battle the terrorists. None of the attackers have been apprehended or killed as yet. Meanwhile French Security forces are now storming the Bataclan theatre where several persons are believed to have been held hostage.

Suspicion on Syria returnees:

Several media outlets have reported that France has been on high alert for several months now after the horrific Charlie Hebdo attack. The latest attack is deadlier than the Charlie Hebdo attack of January 2015 in which three Islamist extremists killed 17 in a series of attacks at weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

Since the Charlie Hebdo assaults, France has been on high alert. The French government has deployed thousands soldiers throughout the country. Several months after those attacks, a man decapitated his employer and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France in what prosecutors say was an attack inspired by ISIS.

In August, a heavily armed Islamic radical was only just prevented from attacking a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, apprehended with the help of two US soldiers.

French agencies had warned that jihadis will look to carry out an attack similar to the 26/11 strikes at Mumbai. The intelligence suggested that there would be a coordinated attack in Paris. Over the past six months several attempts to strike have been foiled by the French. However many said that attack on France was inevitable and jihadis were looking to strike.

Although it is still unclear as to who carried out the Friday attack, pro Isis Twitter accounts were using the hashtag ‘Paris Is Burning’ in what appeared to be a planned and co-ordinated manner on Friday evening.