France Declares State Of Emergency After Paris Attacks Leave 153 Dead

France has declared a national state of emergency and tightened borders after at least 153 people were killed in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris.

Eighty people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took dozens hostage.

The siege ended when security forces stormed the building.

People were shot dead at bars and restaurants at five other sites in Paris. Eight attackers are reported to have been killed.

Police believed all of the gunmen were dead but it was unclear if any accomplices were still on the run after the string of near-simultaneous attacks.

Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and about 1,500 military personnel are being deployed across the city.

The gunmen’s motives were not immediately confirmed, but one witness at the Bataclan heard one of the attackers appear to express support for the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

“It’s Hollande’s fault, he shouldn’t have intervened in Syria!” the man shouted, according to French news agency AFP, citing the French president’s decision to take part in Western air strikes on IS.

Paris saw three days of attacks in early January, when Islamist gunmen murdered 18 people after attacking satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a Jewish supermarket and a policewoman on patrol, reports the BBC.

The attack on the 1,500-seat Bataclan hall was by far the deadliest of Friday night’s attacks. Gunmen opened fire on concert-goers watching US rock group Eagles of Death Metal. The event had been sold out.

The series of attacks not far from the Place de la Republique and the Place de la Bastille struck at the heart of the capital when cafes, bars and restaurants were at their busiest.

Customers were singled out at venues including a pizza restaurant and a Cambodian restaurant.

The other target was the Stade de France, on the northern fringe of Paris, where President Hollande and 80,000 other spectators were watching a friendly international between France and Germany, with a TV audience of millions more.

The president was whisked to safety after the first of three explosions just outside the venue to convene an emergency cabinet meeting. Three attackers were reportedly killed there.

As the extent of the bloodshed became clear, Hollande went on national TV to announce a state of emergency for the first time in France since 2005. The decree enables the authorities to close public places and impose curfews and restrictions on the movement of traffic and people.