Paris Attacks Update

French authorities today identified two men they believe were responsible for planning and launching the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead. Officials believe Salim Benghalem, a French national who joined ISIL several years ago, directed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, an ISIL activist and a Belgian national, to orchestrate Friday’s rampage. (NPR, 16 November)

Three teams of assailants, using automatic weapons and explosive suicide vests, targeted six sites across Paris, including the national stadium, a crowded concert hall and several restaurants. The Islamic State has taken responsibility for the terrorist attacks. And French President Francois Hollande said in a speech before both houses of Parliament that France was at war with ISIL.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris this afternoon in a show of solidarity with the French. Kerry is scheduled to meet with French officials.

Top photo: The Eiffel Tower illuminated in blue, white and red (Twitter)
Bottom photo: People gather in front of Paris City Hall, and throughout France, to hold a minute of silence; Monday 16 November 2015 (Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA/LANDOV/NPR) 

France Launches Fierce Assault on ISIL Positions in Syria

The French Ministry of Defense announced massive airstrikes against Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, ISIL’s center in Syria. The strikes began a day after ISIL claimed responsibility for the coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people and wounding many more.

A French Defense Ministry statement said the operations were launched from bases in the UAE and Jordan and was conducted in coordination with U.S. forces, which have been conducting repeated airstrikes against ISIL in and around Raqqa.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said Iraqi intelligence had obtained information before the Paris attacks that the Islamic State was planning an imminent strikes overseas that may have been aimed at France, the United States, and Iran.

In Tehran, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi warned the recent ISIL attacks in Paris and Beirut are “a serious alarm to us too.” Alavi added Iran is exercising more “vigilance.”

Syria Talks Begin in Vienna - UPDATE

International Syria Support Group Statement

UPDATE: Members of International Syria Support Group (ISSG) expressed a unanimous sense of urgency to end the Syrian conflict. They reiterated their support for a Syrian political transition based on 2012 Geneva Communiqué in its entirety.

ISSG members further agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire in Syria as soon as representatives of Syrian government and the opposition have begun initial steps toward transition under UN auspices. The permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council also agreed to support a UNSC resolution to empower a UN-endorsed ceasefire monitoring mission and to support a political transition process in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué.

ISSG agreed on the need to convene Syrian government and opposition representatives in formal negotiations under UN auspices, as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1.

It was also agreed that all parties to the political process should adhere to fundamental principles of Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity, and non-sectarian character; to ensure that State institutions remain intact; and to protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination.

ISSG will reconvene in a month.

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The meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) resumed in Vienna today, as the foreign ministers participating in negotiations set aside their differences at least temporarily and condemned Paris attacks. Secretary of State John Kerry, standing next to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said the Islamic State’s terrorist attacks “encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face.” Lavrov added, “No justification for terrorist acts, and no justification for us not doing much more to defeat ISIL and al-Nusra and the like. I hope this meeting as well would allow us to move forward.” (Reurers, 14 November)

Back on the negotiation table, the foreign minsters will tackle their key differences, including the formation of a transition government in Syria, Assad’s role in the transition, if any, and which groups fighting the regime should be included in the transition, and which groups should be excluded as terrorists.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who did not plan to attend today’s talks, and instead were to accompany President Rouhani on a visit to Rome and Paris, changed his schedule after Rouhani’s visits were postponed after Paris attacks, and has now left Tehran for Vienna to attend the afternoon session of the talks.

Photo: Syria Talks; Vienna, 14 November 2015 (Reuters)

Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Paris Attacks

Hollande: ‘An Act of War’

The Islamic State today said it was behind a series of bomb blasts and shootings that have left at least 129 people dead and more than 350 wounded in central Paris on Friday night.

French President Francois Hollande described the attacks as “an act of war” by the terrorist group. Speaking after an emergency security meeting, Hollande said Friday’s attacks were “committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet.”

Hollande vowed to hit back against the militants. “France will be pitiless concerning the barbarity of Daesh,” the French president said.

Photo: French President Francois Hollande addressing the nation after Paris Attacks (France24)