A balloon for each of the 130 victims of the Paris attacks was released into the sky on Tuesday as the French capital marked the third anniversary of the co-ordinated Islamic State attacks on November 13, 2015.
The attacks, which began with suicide blasts outside the Stade de France during a soccer match that was attended by then President Francois Hollande and continued with several mass shootings and a suicide bombing at cafes and restaurants in the city, were the deadliest in France since World War II.
130 people were killed and more than 400 were injured, many of them seriously. Seven attackers, most of whom had French or Belgian citizenship, were killed. Several of them had fought in Syria and all were Islamic State adherents.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, saying they were retaliation for France’s participation in airstrikes against its targets in Syria and Iraq.
France’s 13ONZE15 Victims Association President, Philippe Duperron, said that they will never forget the attacks. “For many of us, there’s no need for a commemoration since the memories are within ourselves, hidden away in a light slumber that the slightest image, music, place, is enough to awaken. And the pain is immense, and the sadness is infinite.”
He further said that they trust that justice will prevail. “Courage is also what I wish for everyone during this exhausting judicial marathon that awaits us in the next months and probably years to come. We trustingly await for justice to be done, not in the spirit of vengeance, but solely to establish the truth regarding the actions, responsibilities, and also to be able to tell throughout history the horrors of terrorism.”
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