Paris Attacks: Identity of 1st Suspect Revealed as Investigation Continues
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(PARIS) — The identity of the first Paris attacker has been revealed as the investigation into who was behind the devastating six-part attack on French citizens continues.
The first attacker was identified as Omar Ismail Mostefai, a 29-year-old Frenchman, the French prosecutors office said. Mostefai was identified from a severed finger found at the Bataclan concert venue, the site of one of the attacks.
Three teams of suspects carried out six separate attacks, officials said, before seven attackers were killed by detonating their explosive belts.
The death toll in the Friday night massacre has reached 129, officials said. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Sunday that the bodies of 103 victims have been identified while 20 to 30 victims remain unidentified.
There were at least 352 people injured from the attacks, including 99 people in critical condition.
As the investigation into the attack continues, the country remains on edge, and French police are advising people to stay home as much as possible.
On Saturday, police were called to a Paris suburb after reports of small explosions that turned out to be firecrackers.
The investigation spread Saturday from France to Belgium, after cars linked to the attack were tracked to Brussels. Officials said at least three people have been arrested in Belgium, including one person that was involved in the attack.
The U.S. will also be contributing the investigation, as five FBI agents have left for Paris, a law enforcement official briefed on the situation told ABC News. The FBI’s specific role was not immediately clear.
Pope Francis Sunday morning expressed his “deep sorrow for the terrorist attacks,” saying, “to the President of the Republic Of French and all the citizens I offer the expression of my deepest sympathy.”
“I am particularly close to the families of those who lost their relatives and to those who were injured,” he said. ” Such barbarity leaves us shocked and we wonder how can a human heart conceive and organize such horrible acts, that have shocked France and the whole world.”
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