10 Years Later: France Commemorates the Paris Attacks That Changed a Nation

The Eiffel Tower was illuminated with the colors of the French flag to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Paris:

France commemorates the 10th anniversary on Thursday of the Paris attacks during which Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in a violent spree through cafes, restaurants, and the Bataclan concert venue, leaving many survivors still traumatized to this day.

These attacks were the most deadly on French soil since World War Two, leaving a lasting scar on the national psyche and prompting emergency security measures that have now been incorporated into law.

The coordinated assault began with suicide bomb explosions outside the Stade de France sports stadium where then-President Francois Hollande and the German foreign minister were attending a friendly soccer match, and continued with gunmen firing at five additional locations throughout central Paris.

Beginning at 11:30 a.m. (1030 GMT), President Emmanuel Macron will join officials, survivors, and relatives of victims to pay tribute to those killed and injured in the attacks. The memorial events will start at the Stade de France and proceed to the restaurants and cafés that were targeted, as well as the Bataclan.

Sebastian Lascoux was inside the Bataclan where the rock band Eagles of Death Metal was performing when what he initially thought was firecracker noise echoed through the concert hall. It quickly became evident that the venue was under attack.

People "ended up all squashed together and collapsed as one," he recalled. "And then (there was) the smell of blood," said Lascoux, now 46. One of his friends was fatally shot while trying to shield another member of their group.

"He saved her life," added Lascoux, who continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress and cannot be in crowded places or enclosed spaces, even cinemas. Loud popping sounds remind him of gunshots.

Like some other survivors, Lascoux plans to attend Thursday's commemorations.

"What made the November 13 attacks unique was that everyone was a potential victim," historian Denis Peschanski said.

"Either they were old enough to be there, or, like me, they were old enough to have children who could have been there, even though I was lucky they weren't."

Catherine Bertrand, a survivor of the Bataclan attack and vice-president of a victims' association, said: "We all agree that it has marked us forever. We are all deeply traumatized by that evening, and our thoughts of course turn to the victims and their loved ones."

She emphasized that life must continue, saying: "There are concerts at the Bataclan, life goes on, we meet up between friends" at the places where the attacks took place.

Ten years later, the threat of such attacks in France has evolved. Militant jihadist groups such as Islamic State no longer possess the same capacity to coordinate attacks on French soil, according to security sources.

However, the group's online propaganda remains effective and capable of radicalizing young people fascinated with violence on social media. Anti-terrorism prosecutors this week initiated an investigation into the former partner of the presumed sole surviving perpetrator of the attacks.