Anniversary of Paris attacks approaches

France and the rest of Europe is preparing to mark one year since the Paris terror attacks.

Mourners around Europe are preparing to mark one year since the Paris terror attacks.

Sunday will see the reopening of the Bataclan concert hall, which was targeted by Islamic State militants as part of a campaign of terror in the French capital.

Some 130 people died in the attacks on the evening of November 13 2015, when suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France, while gunmen opened fire at cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan during a performance by US rock band the Eagles Of Death Metal.

Eighty-nine people were murdered at the concert hall when three suicide bombers - Frenchmen Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, Samy Amimour, 28, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23 - blew themselves up.

The Bataclan, a 150-year-old venue in the heart of Paris's bourgeois-bohemian district, will be reopened by former Police frontman Sting on Saturday to mark the anniversary. The show sold out within an hour of tickets going on sale.

The 65-year-old British singer said: "In reopening the Bataclan, we have two important tasks to reconcile. First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago, and second, to celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents."

All revenue from the show will be donated to charity.

Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving suspect of the Paris attacks, remains in police custody.

He was arrested in the Belgian capital Brussels in March and transferred to France.

Authorities hope Abdeslam can provide information about IS strategies and networks, and identify others who might have had a connection to the Paris attacks.

The same network struck again in Abdeslam's home city of Brussels in March, days after he was arrested in his hideout.


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Source: AAP


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Anniversary of Paris attacks approaches | SBS News