Suvivors of the November 13, 2015 attacks, as well as French leaders, are preparing to mark a decade since 130 people were killed by gunmen and suicide bombers across the city.
France will commemorate on Thursday the November 13, 2015 terror attacks in which more than 130 people were killed and over 400 were injured when militants loyal to the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) group attacked several sites in Paris.
“The 10th anniversary is here and emotions and tension are everywhere for us survivors,” said Arthur Denouveaux, president of victims’ association Life for Paris. “That kind of shields us from the world in a way, because we’re so focused on the grief and on remembering those who lost their lives.”
Denouveaux was attending the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theater when three gunmen burst into the venue, killing 90 people.
“The hardest part is Nov. 14 when you have to get back to normal life somehow and the grief is still here, but the bond is a little more distant,” Denouveaux told the Associated Press.
The gunmen also attacked cafe-goers on the streets of Paris, as well as outside the Stade de France where the French national team was playing Germany.
Commemorations led by Macron, Hidalgo
The main ceremonies on Thursday will take place at a new memorial garden by the Paris City Hall, with President Emmanuel Macron and Mayor Anne Hidalgo in attendance. A new memorial has been erected, with the six sites of violence on steles alongside the names of victims.
Macron and Hidalgo will also lay wreaths at the sites of attacks around Paris.
Parisians have been invited to lay cards and tributes in the Republic Square and at the Eiffel Tower.
There will be a minute’s silence before France’s World Cup qualifying game against Ukraine, which will take place at Parc des Princes in Saint-Denis rather than in the Stade de France.
Coach Didier Deschamps, who was also national team manager 10 years ago, implied that the team was uncomfortable with playing on the anniversary, but that they had no choice but to play or forfeit a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The lone surviving attacker, Salah Abdeslam, is serving a life sentence in prison. Nineteen other accomplices have also been convicted.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
DW News
