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France is marking 10 years since the Paris terror attacks on Thursday with ceremonies at each site where the so-called Islamic State group gunmen and suicide bombers killed 132 people on 13 November 2015.
President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will pay tributes at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, cafés and restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements, and the Bataclan concert hall, observing a minute of silence before memorial plaques at each location.
The commemorations will culminate with the opening of the Jardin du 13-Novembre, a memorial garden opposite City Hall bearing the names of the 132 victims on granite stelae. Macron and Hidalgo are to attend the ceremony at 6 pm.
Nine attackers struck within minutes of one another on the night of the attack: suicide bombers detonated outside the Stade de France, gunmen fired on café terraces, and three attackers stormed the Bataclan at 9:47 pm, killing 90 people before police ended the siege.
Two survivors who later died by suicide have since been recognised among the victims.
City officials asked the public to give families space at the memorials.
The French football federation also plans to observe a minute’s silence before France’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine at the Parc des Princes.
On Wednesday night, Parisians left candles, flowers and notes at the foot of the statue of Marianne at Place de la République.
The Eiffel Tower was lit in the colours of the French flag on the eve of the anniversary.
Arthur Dénouveaux, who escaped the Bataclan attack and leads the Life for Paris association, said emotions remained raw for survivors. “You never fully heal. You just learn to live differently,” he said.
A trial in 2021-2022 ended with life imprisonment without parole for Salah Abdeslam, the lone surviving assailant, and convictions for 19 others.
The memorial garden was conceived with victims’ associations and includes plantings that echo the attack sites and benches for reflection. Designers added bird baths, nesting boxes and shade at the request of families.
Additional sources • AP