Paris Attacks 2015: France Mourns Victims, Brussels Reduces Threat Level

UPDATE: 6:45 a.m. EST -- The memorial ceremony for the victims of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks closed with the French national anthem played by a military band.

On Friday, President François Hollande addressed the crowd present inside the courtyard of the Invalides national monument. The event was attended by survivors of the attacks as well as families of the victims.

After the event, Hollande left the monument walking alone amid tight security, the Associated Press reported.

UPDATE: 5:08 a.m. EST -- French President François Hollande vowed to destroy the “army of fanatics” responsible for the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more.

Hollande’s comments came Friday as the country paid homage to those killed in the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group. About 1,000 people are reportedly attending the service in central Paris, including survivors of the attacks. The names of all the victims were reportedly read out one by one at the ceremony.

"We'll respond to attacks by singing more songs, going to concerts, stadiums," Hollande reportedly said.

Original story:

France on Friday will mourn the 130 people who were killed in a series of shootings and suicide bombings in Paris on Nov. 13. President François Hollande will reportedly lead a ceremony in honor of the victims.

The families of the victims of France’s worst-ever terror attack, claimed by the Islamic State group also known as ISIS, will join some of the wounded at ceremonies at the Les Invalides, a seventeenth-century complex in central Paris, according to local media.

Hollande -- who met with U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to coordinate an anti-ISIS offensive -- is expected to make a 20-minute address at the one-hour ceremony.

While France prepared to mourn the victims, an international manhunt is still underway in Belgium for two suspects -- Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini. On Thursday, however, Belgian authorities reduced the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three. The capital city was under lockdown for nearly a week, with schools and the metro system closed over fears of a Paris-style attack.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel reportedly said Thursday that the threat of an attack in Brussels remained "real" and "serious,” but the "imminent nature" of the threat was "no longer present.”

Police in Belgium have mounted a number of raids and searches over the past two weeks. On Thursday, authorities searched a house in a small town south of Brussels as part of a probe over the Paris attacks.

Five people have so far been charged in Belgium with terror-related offences. Two admitted driving Abdeslam, brother of suicide bomber Brahim Abdeslam, back from Paris to Brussels just after the attacks. Two other men have been charged with driving Abdeslam -- who is believed to have helped the attackers with logistics and likely rented one of the cars used in the assaults -- around Brussels once he got back, according to Reuters.