Paris Attacks Live Updates: France Hunts Down Suspects, Launches Revenge Attacks On Islamic State In Syria

UPDATE: 11:20 p.m. EST: In the early hours of Monday local time, several police raids took place across France in connection with Friday’s terrorist attacks throughout Paris, according to the Guardian. The raids were conducted in several French towns, including Tolouse, Grenoble, Calais, Jeumont and the Parisian suburb of Bobigny. At least three people were taken into police custody during the Toulouse raids, according to France’s iTélé.

UPDATED: 10:40 p.m. EST: Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Sunday rejected a call by a New South Wales member of state Parliament to close its doors to refugees from the Middle East, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, according to Australia’s Seven News. “Australia obviously faces a very different situation than countries in Europe that have land borders,” Dutton said in an interview with the news agency. “With our sea border, we have a very tough policy.” Even with the heightened security measures, the country has continued to take in Syrian refugees, he added.

The call to close the border to refugees from Syria came from a New South Wales member of Parliament, Andrew Fraser. “Australia does not need Middle Eastern Refugees or Islamic boat people,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Close our borders, we have enough anarchists already resident in Australia.” Fraser’s post came following reports that a Syrian passport was found near one of the bodies of a suicide bomber, according to the Guardian.

UPDATE: 9:50 P.M. EST: At least eight of the assailants in the attacks in Paris on Friday were killed. But there may have been as many as 20 people throughout Europe who were involved in the planning and execution of the plot, an unnamed French senior official told the Washington Post. Several are suspected of having resided in Molenbeek, a suburb of Brussels, which in recent years has been cited as a hotbed for jihadist terrorist training.

At least one of the eight terrorists involved in the attacks may have visited Syria prior to the attacks, the New York Times reported. The war-torn country is not only the stage for a yearslong civil war but also is home to Raqqa, the stronghold of the terrorist group Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS.

UPDATE 8:30 p.m. EST: The Eiffel Tower shined bright on Sunday evening, two days after the deadly attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead. On Saturday, the Parisian monument had gone dark as a symbol of mourning for the victims.

The Eiffel Tower and many of Paris’ cultural landmarks were closed following the Friday attacks. But on Monday, the tourist attractions are expected to reopen, starting at 1 p.m. local time, according to a statement issued by the French Culture Ministry on Sunday. Schools, sports venues, parks and street markets are also anticipated to reopen. But security is likely to be tightened in those areas, Agence France-Presse reported.

UPDATE 7:02 p.m. EST: President Barack Obama ordered Sunday that flags in the United States be flown at half-staff. The order includes the White House, public buildings, military posts, U.S. embassies, naval stations and U.S. government naval vessels throughout the country and its territories until sunset on Thursday.

“The American people stand with the people of France,” said president Obama. “Friday’s terror attacks were not just an attack on Paris, they were an attack on all humanity and the universal values we share, including the bonds of liberté, égalité and fraternité. These values will endure far beyond any terrorists or their hateful vision.”

JUST IN: President Obama orders flags flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims of the #ParisAttacks pic.twitter.com/RMPCfiMZGm — ABC News (@ABC) November 15, 2015

UPDATE 6:04 p.m. EST: Some 1,200 police officers, firefighters, rescue workers and volunteers who responded to the deadly crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps were in the Paris stadium for the France-Germany soccer match during Friday's attacks. A spokesman for parent company Lufthansa said Sunday that, to the German airline's knowledge, none of the workers were harmed in the attack outside the stadium, according to the Associated Press.

The spokesman, Helmut Tolksdorf, told the news agency the rescue workers were invited to the game by Lufthansa as well as the German and French soccer federations to show appreciation for their work in the aftermath of the March 24 plane crash, in which the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally downed the Airbus 320 into French mountainside, killing himself and all 149 others on board.

Germanwings crash volunteers were taken to #Paris stadium as reward. Then attacks happened. https://t.co/TqqOR3AbcB pic.twitter.com/0KMhuk2baN— Slate (@Slate) November 14, 2015

UPDATE 5:21 p.m. EST: France's Ministry of Culture and Communication said Paris' most important museums, including the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, will reopen Monday at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EST), after a national moment of silence to mourn the victims of Friday's attacks, which left at least 129 dead and hundreds more wounded in the French capital. The famed museums in France's north-central region, known as the Île-de-France, which surrounds Paris, were closed Saturday and Sunday.

A state of emergency remains in place in France, as international authorities continue to search for suspects in connection with the terrorist attacks.

Les établissements culturels @iledefrance rouvriront lundi à 13h, après la minute de silence https://t.co/iR3o3dRbDn pic.twitter.com/NXeVei5LRQ— Ministère CultureCom (@MinistereCC) November 15, 2015

UPDATE 5:05 p.m. EST: Two of the assailants and at least three others involved in Friday's attacks in Paris are linked to a Belgian suburb that has a large Muslim population. Belgian authorities said one of the seven suicide bombers who died in Paris was identified as a French national living in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. A second attacker lived in or near the district, according to the Telegraph in the U.K.

After several arrests were made in the area Sunday, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon admitted to local news channel VRT that “we don’t have control of the situation in Molenbeek at present” and that authorities needed to “clean up” the district. Prime Minister Charles Michel also said there was a “huge problem” in Molenbeek, the Telegraph reported.

Molenbeek: The Brussels suburb at the heart of Belgium's jihadist threat #ParisAttacks https://t.co/bpUyZj5Ims pic.twitter.com/yKIdDjUKtk— CNN International (@cnni) November 15, 2015

Original story:

French police early Saturday apparently questioned and released Saleh Abdeslam, a fugitive suspect wanted in Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Hours later, Abdeslam is now the center of an international manhunt for those responsible for the deadly sieges that killed at least 129 people.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, French officials told the Associated Press that Abdeslam was one of three people in a car stopped by police near the Belgian border early Saturday, hours after authorities had identified him as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that was left at one of the attack scenes. After pulling over the vehicle, the police officers apparently checked Abdeslam’s ID and let him go.

Abdeslam allegedly was involved directly in the attacks and is still at large. He apparently helped with logistics, among other things, and rented one of the cars used in the attacks. The French National Police issued an arrest warrant Sunday for the Belgian-born French national. He is described by authorities as 26 years old, 5-foot-7 and “dangerous.”

His brother, Ibrahim Abdeslam, reportedly was one of the suicide bombers. Both lived in Belgium for years, a senior European intelligence official told the Washington Post. Another brother, who has not yet been named, may be among seven people taken in for questioning by police in the Molenbeek-St. Jean district of Brussels Saturday.

Investigators are still searching for at least one other participant in the nearly simultaneous assaults that killed and wounded hundreds at six sites in and around Paris, including an explosion near Stade de France where the French national soccer team was playing against Germany's team. The Islamic State group, also known as either ISIL or ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The militant group and French authorities both initially claimed the carefully coordinated attacks were carried out by eight men. Police said seven attackers died, one by being shot by police and six by detonating their suicide vests, according to the Guardian in the U.K.

French President Francois Hollande has vowed a “merciless” response to ISIS in revenge for Friday's attacks. The French Defense Ministry said Sunday it is bombing Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital in Syria. At least 10 jets have dropped 20 bombs on 30 targets in Syria. The Islamic State group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria.

"The raid ... including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Twenty bombs were dropped," the ministry said in a statement obtained by Reuters, adding that the mission had taken place Sunday night local time.

This map from IBtimes gives detailed information on which countries are fighting ISIS, as the threat of terrorism moves beyond the Middle East.

Parisians are helping victims and their families by volunteering, giving blood or opening up their homes. Whether you live in Paris or halfway around the world, there are several ways to help the city of light recover. Click here for six ways you can make a difference in the wake of the Paris attacks.