PARIS - People have gathered across France as the country marks its
second day of mourning following coordinated attacks claimed by ISIL that
killed at least 129 people in Paris. Mourners lit candles and laid flowers on Sunday at the
locations of the attacks across the capital, standing in silence as police
investigators elsewhere in the country launched a search for the attackers'
accomplices.
Stepping up their hunt for information, authorities found
several AK47 assault rifles in the back of an abandoned SEAT car in an eastern
suburb of Paris. Witnesses said the car, found in Montreuil, was used by
attackers at multiple locations on Friday night, the AFP news agency said.
Earlier, French police identified Omar Ismail Mostefai, a
29-year-old Paris native, as one of the attackers. Mostefai's detached finger was found overnight at the
Bataclan concert hall, the scene of the bloodiest attack.
The French citizen had been known to police for his alleged
links to armed groups but had not been previously linked to violent activities.
Police are also holding six of the man's relatives. French authorities believe the attacks were planned abroad
by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, but have not yet
confirmed the identities of others involved.
Belgian authorities, however, said that two of the attackers
who died were Frenchmen who had lived in Brussels. In Belgium, police said they have arrested seven people over
their alleged links to the attacks and investigators have found that two cars
used in the operation were rented in Belgium, they added.
ISIL purportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks shortly
after the incident but has also not revealed the identities of the attackers.
Investigators in France, Belgium, Greece and Germany are
trying to identify all seven attackers and their accomplices. Witnesses said some of the attackers arrived in a car
carrying Belgian plates. Greek authorities have also confirmed that a man who died in
the attacks with a Syrian passport found next to him had registered as a
refugee on the island of Leros in October.
Police said the passport had been found near the body of one
of the attackers. German police arrested a man on November 5 after machine
guns, hand guns and explosives were found in his vehicle during a routine check
on a motorway.
Horst Seehofer, Bavaria's state premier, said there was
reason to believe he had links to the attackers, and that the case "shows
how important it is for us to have some clarity on who is in our country".
The attacks have intensified debate on Europe's response to
the refugee crisis. Marie Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National
Front party, has called for a tightening of the country's borders.
Al Jazeera's David Chater reporting from Paris on Sunday,
said security services will be concentrating on how the perpetrators were able
to get themselves and their ammunition into France without being noticed.
"The intelligence services will be looking at the blind spots in their system that allowed ISIL to get through their net - exactly where did they get their weapons, how did they get their ammunition, and has the Schengen system made the whole of Western Europe vulnerable."
The attacks have also led to an outpouring of solidarity
among France's allies, with thousands attending marches and memorials outside
French embassies and consulates across the world.
Sources
Aljazeera
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