Terror attacks in central Paris

The specter of a second terror attack this year in Paris raced through social media along with the shocking news that it left more than 150 people dead.

Terrorists on a murderous rampage killed scores of people in multiple attacks in the French capital Friday night, including at least 100 held hostage at a concert hall before police swept in.

Explosions and gunfire erupted as the heavily armed security forces poured into the theater where a California rock group was playing.

One police official described "carnage" inside the building, saying the attackers tossed explosives at the hostages, then blew themselves up with suicide belts as police closed in, the Associated Press reported. It was unclear how many hostages were rescued.

Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office said early Saturday that eight terrorists died in the attacks, seven of them in suicide bombings, according to AP.

The eighth was killed by security forces in the attempt to rescue the hostages at the concert hall. Overall, at least 120 people were killed in the attacks at six sites across the city, Thibault-Lecuivre said.

She also said it is possible that terrorists tied to the attacks remain at large.
In addition to the scores of people killed at the concert venue, at least 11 died in a Paris restaurant in the 10th arrondissement and at least three died when bombs went off outside a stadium, police said.

It was the deadliest violence Paris has seen since World War II. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. organization that monitors extremist websites, said jihadists were celebrating the attacks on social media.